Begin Again - Swan Queen
by KSQ
Summary: After a few drinks on the beach at night around a bonfire, Regina reveals her true feelings for Emma. What suddenly erupts as a very emotional time between them blossoms into something more. Much more than what Regina anticipated.
1. Campfire

**X**

 **Campfire Stories**

"I remember the first time when I kissed a girl," Snow confessed, inhaling deeply through her teeth. Those eyes of hers shone, round face appearing even fairer next to the bonfire's glow.

Of course Killian's attention was piqued. He paused in the act of swallowing another mouthful of rum, the bottle frozen in time whilst Ruby laughed around the rim of her glass of Whiskey. Straight up as usual. Just as Whale downed his. But David seemed to absorb the string of words uttered boldly by his wife with nothing but a smile on that handsome face.

Emma was gawking.

"She was sixteen and she was from this village I was passing through. Back in those days," Snow tilted her head, severely lost in the memory, "the rough bandit look made me more appealing, I guess –"

"Mom…" Emma interrupted, her tone suggesting a warning.

"So I was passing through," Snow continued anyway, as Killian's eyes sparkled, "and I ended up staying in this little cottage she lived in. Her name was Aida."

"She even slept in Aida's bed," David interjected, a smile pulling his lips upwards. "They passed the time talking about their families."

"Oh she had a good pair of breasts," Snow smiled up at the darkened velvet coloured sky, her chest rising and falling slowly. "I've always told David that kissing Aida was like kissing a honey coated spoon. And feeling how soft she was was so…so…"

"Mom!" Emma cried, obviously aghast from soaking up the kind of information to make any daughter feel extremely uncomfortable. "Why the hell would you even share something like that?"

"Why?" Snow turned to stare at the blonde as if she was now being observed for the first time. "Because I was asked to. That's why. Does anyone have a problem with me sharing my moment with Aida?"

"No."

"Nope."

Killian, along with Whale and Ruby shook their heads, the latter choosing to suck up as much Whiskey as possible.

"No problem with me," David held up his hands, head bowed. "I've heard all the stories, and I'm very open minded so there we go."

The snap of a twig behind the blonde obviously caught her attention. Immediately muting the conversation drifting around the bonfire, she swiveled her head to pinpoint someone slowly and gracefully threading their way through the sandy path.

Regina's dark hair danced wildly in the wind. The black dress she had slipped into hugged every curve; too many curves. And that black wool sweater as an add-on very soon jolted the blonde's memory. Drifting her mind back to a Christmas, possibly two years ago when that same sweater had been one of her gifts to the older woman. Now she was feeling all mushy inside.

Of course the absence of heels was considered to be something strange to Emma. The highlight of the outfit being the shortness of the actual dress. Reaching midway down those honey coloured thighs. And as she made her way towards them, the brunette kept tugging the fabric downwards, as if feeling quite self-conscious already about the length.

"Great," Whale muttered behind his bottle of beer, "Miss Sophisticated is here. Who invited her again?"

Emma frowned in his direction, the wind whipping around strands of her blonde hair. "I did."

"Why the fuck _would_ you?" He stared at her, entirely pissed off already.

"Because it wasn't a choice," Emma stated with a hint of bitterness in her tone. "It was something as normal to me as anything else."

Ruby raised her glass after the blonde's words had been uttered with complete confidence. Her eyes twinkled.

"Regina, we were just wondering when you'd show up," Snow patted a space next to her whilst David snuggled up on the other side of the log. It was long enough to accommodate four persons, but apparently everyone had chosen to stay away from the True Love pair, as if the actuality of their presence was contagious.

Regardless of where she was directed to sit, the brunette considered her options and decided to strategically place herself opposite Emma. This, of course seemed to provide the younger woman with every opportunity to smile and consider the length of the outfit, wondering why in the world would someone like Regina choose to wear that piece.

She sat with the poise of a Queen. Her back as stiff as a poker, immediately bringing out a scowl in Whale that was evident. Party poopers seriously were offensive to him because when he decided to have a good time, it was supposed to happen all the way or nothing else.

"What did I miss?" her husky voice was deepened by the effect of the chilly wind. Hugging herself, she offered a warm smile although those brown eyes never met emerald ones.

"Well for starters," David signaled for Killian to reach into the red cooler nestled in the sand, "Snow was just telling us about her first girl kiss."

"Which was pretty hot by the way," Lucas added, those mischievous eyes of hers fixated on Regina's cleavage peeking out above the sweater's neck. "I mean spare me no details, because I'd love to hear how far the two of them went."

"Can we…not?" Emma was obviously irritated by the topic, accepting a beer from Killian as he also delved into the cooler and held up one for Regina's consideration.

The brunette's eyes flicked briefly from Emma and then to the dashing pirate who sat there with his legs apart. The bottom of his black leather jacket flapped ever so often from being affected by the wind.

"I think her majesty would prefer my poison," Lucas was already reaching for the bottle of Whiskey. She poured half a glass for Regina and handed it over across the distance whilst the bonfire quite near them burned and flared on.

"Were you speaking about Fanny?" Regina inquired, searching Snow's eyes.

David's interest was piqued now and Killian observed his face with mild fascination. "Oh?"

"The girl you often had as a playmate in the castle," the older brunette tried to jolt the other woman's memory. "The one you often disappeared with."

"Oh, her!" Snow's cheeks turned crimson. She laughed nervously and waved it off as if the memory was nothing but a frivolous one. "Not at all. Fanny was as cute as a button but she had no ass."

"What am I doing here?" Emma's eyes fluttered close. Elbows resting on her knees, the blonde was swimming in nothing else but memories of her mother chasing a girl. It was too much to process. Her fingertips slowly massaged her temples.

"Alright, well if you're so green in the face from your mom's first kiss story, then tell us yours," Ruby suggested, her words never slurring even after four glasses because she was a woman who could hold her liquor well enough. A blotting paper granny often called her. Soaking up glass after glass without becoming slightly tipsy.

"I can't even remember mine," Emma said decidedly. She sucked in a mouthful of beer and swallowed. "Think it was some guy from high school. Mike. I think."

"Regina, tell us about yours," Snow suddenly interrupted, appearing quite energetic from even considering the fact that the older brunette could contribute a juicy tale. "I know you have plenty to tell."

Even Whale seemed to be awaiting the verdict, whilst Killian leant forward, a bottle of beer clipped between his fingers.

"I only just got here," the brunette reminded them. "Wouldn't be fair for me to steal the spotlight so early."

"No, go ahead," Swan urged, leaning forward as well whilst those emerald eyes never detached from brown ones. "I'm all in for it."

Did she just notice a sparkle in the older woman's eyes? A sparkle that suggested a connection being latched onto and maintained? For even as the seconds slipped by, Regina never diverted her gaze. Instead, she considered Emma with an intense look that suggested more than piqued interest. Something remaining hidden. Concealed behind her fluttering lashes. The way she slowly lifted her glass and took a sip. Barely.

Killian cleared his throat.

"I've kissed a woman before," Regina confessed, the huskiness of her voice deepening as the wind kissed honey coloured cheeks.

"Not surprised, to be honest," Whale said matter-of-factly. He shrugged. "Fact is, there wasn't a woman who wasn't fantasizing about you."

"Why thank you for making that observation and informing me of it," Regina smiled sweetly around the lip of the glass. The whiskey sparkled from the flames of the bonfire. "In fact," she lowered her poison, "that is as far as I'll go. No names. Just me allowing your imagination to wander free."

Emma felt her heart leap when those brown orbs focused on her again. As if the older woman was being suggestive. As if she was directly asking her to fly away with those words and colour the situation however she wished to. Apparently Killian was the only one who seemed to become a little uncomfortable by the intense gazing game. Where Regina all of a sudden took on quite an interest in Emma's presence, more than ever before.

He felt somewhat…prickly from the whole ordeal.

Knowing that the Queen was as open minded as a Queen could ever be. She took only the best to her bed chambers back in those days. When those laced up corsets would be tightened to boost up a hefty cleavage and even women could never not gawk in her direction. Because she was always a woman of power. A woman who was fierce. A woman who knew exactly what she wanted. And confidence could sway most people.

Snow's face appeared to relax even more. She leant onto David's left arm and smiled. Apparently one beer was enough.

"Come on," the blonde encouraged. "Share some more with us."

"Enlighten me on what you would most like to hear," Regina smirked, lightly rubbing the rim of the glass upon her lips. There was a look in those brown eyes that seemed to initiate a firestorm.

"I um," Emma scratched the back of her neck whilst staring at the sand by her brown leather boots, "I actually never kissed a girl. So…so you three," she nervously laughed and tried to avoid eye contact with the brunette who was seated opposite her, "you, Ruby and mom. You kind of have points over me, I guess."

"No shit," Lucas stared back. "For reals?"

Killian rolled his eyes.

Whale was only dreaming of the day Ruby would dump Dorothy and run into his arms.

"Like you never even did a lip on lip with a girl?" Apparently this was a crime. Ruby frowned. Her bewildered look was soaked up by Regina who smirked back, choosing to hug herself as the wind grew colder.

The blonde shook her head. "Seems like I was never really inclined to."

"Bet you've been hit on by a woman though," Lucas was fishing. She was seriously throwing out a line and hoping that Emma would latch on to the bait.

"Well…yeah," the blonde shrugged. She glanced at Killian who suddenly appeared to be studying the dark outline of the shore with deep interest. "A few."

"And?"

Emma swallowed a mouthful of beer and stared at Ruby. "And?"

"What the hell happened?"

Whale sighed, shaking his head in disbelief and it was Killian who decided to step in immediately.

"Look, frankly the situation stands as it is. The past is the past and we're both here," he gestured at Emma and then himself whilst trying to connect his eyes with everyone else. Snow was drifting off. "Nothing else matters. But what Swan and I have."

"I beg to differ," Ruby replied smartly, deciding to sip some whiskey whilst hiding her obvious smirk around the lip of the glass. She considered Regina who was somehow gazing intently at the blonde. "I think you've got competition, Hook."

"With who?" Killian appeared stupefied by the actuality of such words holding any truth.

Brown eyes seemed to swirl a bit. She seemed to be drowning. Regina was captivated by the blonde.

Killian didn't seem to notice. "That is absurd."

"Not absurd," Lucas corrected, as she jerked her chin in the older brunette's direction when David began to study her keen expression. "I think this is nice. Really nice."

"What is?" The pirate frowned.

"The fact that you're about to be mindfucked."

Killian was utterly confused, displaying a look to match that on his face.

Regina had downed her glass of whiskey and was stretching across the distance for the taller brunette to pour another one. David admired the activity before his eyes and smiled. Good. Everyone was loosening up. Well except for Whale who seemed to be oh so inclined to have Ruby all to himself.

If she could have been anywhere else, it would have been between the covers in bed. A warm bed. The blonde's mind drifted off to her warm bedroom where there was a heater and a nice bag of socks to ease the bitter cold seeping into the house. Her house. And very soon, their house. Because she had asked him to move in with her.

Now she regretted it because as quickly as the days came and went, her heart began to drain itself of those intense feelings she had dwelled on in relation to Jones.

"You're a very attractive woman," Regina suddenly said after taking a generous sip from the refill, all attention on Emma. "It would be a crime to have a woman not admire you in some way or the other." Her gaze never seemed to attach onto anything else. Or anyone for that matter.

"Thanks," Emma smiled stiffly. She shrugged. "I guess."

"Don't thank me," Regina said, returning the smile. "I haven't done anything to you as yet."

The silence that ensued was one that contained a seriously tensed up Killian, an obviously interested Whale, and whilst David raised his eyebrows and smiled at the older brunette, Lucas gawked.

"What?" Regina's brown eyes flicked around. She smirked. "I am being honest."

"Too honest," Ruby slowly rested her glass upon the empty space on the log, her gaze never leaving the other woman. "So you've been there, right?"

"You mean with Emma?" Regina arched her eyebrows, those red lips pursed together.

Lucas swallowed hard. Killian was perched on the edge of the log now, eyes wide.

"I mean –"

"My goodness!" Snow was suddenly wide awake, gawking as well. She sat forward and stared into brown eyes belonging to the older woman. "Have you two slept together?"

"No! Geez," Emma stared in bewilderment at the faces focused on her. She returned her attention to the woman seated opposite from her. "Come on, Regina. What the hell…"

"What the hell indeed," the older woman croaked, immediately lifting the glass to her lips, almost empty already. "Why haven't I accomplished that as yet?"

"Bucket list item?" Lucas wondered out loud.

"Oh definitely," Regina drained her glass whilst Emma gawked.

The round, moon had risen high in the velvet sky by then, leaves rustling between the cluster of trees where the forest began. Where the wind chased sounds and swirled around dark hair whilst blonde tendrils kissed Emma's bare shoulders. Of course she could not separate her gaze from Regina. The woman was seriously presenting a confusing countenance, one that had come in like a tidal wave.

Once before Regina had been this bold with her. Back in New York when they had followed Henry's path on a mission to save their son. Hunger had brought on a frustrating migraine on the brunette's part and with Swan's persuasion, both of them ended up delving into a plate of fries along with juicy chicken nuggets. Like two big kids, they sat there together in that booth.

Remembering how Regina reached across the small slice of space between them to dab at the younger woman's right cheek was something Emma never could erase from her memory.

It wasn't just the simple act of bravery. Of showing how unaffected the older woman was by getting into her personal space. But it was also the way she allowed her fingers to linger against Emma's face. Settling and staying. Almost as if a feeling had been captured and held onto and their eyes meeting had suggested something more than a mere connection.

"I used to think that bonfires were overrated," Killian provided after the conversation drifted to nothing Emma could remember through her thick memories arising from New York. "But then a mate of mine invited me to one during a voyage we took to Neverland many years ago. I sat around a huge one whilst the flames licked the sky and all I could fixate my mind on was the way the warmth was soothing and the crackle was relaxing. Scary at first. But the rum softened the night gradually."

"Rum." Lucas stared at him. "Is that all you think about?"

"When I'm not drowning in Swan's eyes." Killian smiled at Emma.

"You mean when you're not chasing after her like a kid after candy on Halloween." The way Regina's words slurred slightly immediately caught Emma's attention. "Is that all you do, Hook?" The brunette tilted her head and offered a sweet smile. "Chase after women until they take you to bed?"

Ruby choked on her mouthful of Whiskey whilst Snow couldn't muffle an obvious snort. David licked his lips and barked out a laugh. Whale on the other hand seemed to find Regina suddenly interesting enough to be smiled at.

"The highlight, of course," Killian focused on the older woman without smiling. "Is you placing yourself into a situation that doesn't involve you."

"I don't do threesomes, dear. So don't bid me an offer," brown eyes were hooded.

"I never…" Jones stared back. He swallowed. Shaking his head, the small glass of rum was tasted again.

"Oh do tell," Regina seemed to loosen up, her shoulders never so rigid as usual. "What makes you two work?"

Emma was completely and utterly awed by the older woman's fastidious responses. Her bold questions. The way she maintained eye contact with Jones and held it, as if trying to kill him with those flames burning in brown orbs.

"I prefer to keep my love life private, my Queen," Killian smiled and reached for the bottle of rum. "Whatever is done behind closed doors is none of your bloody business."

"That's it then." Regina was on her fourth glass of Whiskey. "Sex."

"And that bothers you how exactly?"

"Well it appears as if you have nothing special to offer a woman other than a roll between the sheets. I should know. I was there. With you. Remember?"

Ruby's choking continued whilst Whale smartly clapped her on the back, laughing as hard as he could. Snow on the other hand was exploding with energy and fascination as her eyes darted between the two persons engaged in conversation.

"Regina, that was several eons ago," Killian tried to appear unfazed but his cheeks slightly coloured. He reached for his glass, only to discover that it was empty and his hand opted for the bottle instead. "What Emma and I share is a deeper connection that signifies love and care for each other."

"Yes." Regina nodded. "That's all there is. Since your bedroom manners is nothing to boast about and you pining after her is simply childlike. It is so embarrassing how you run around behind her like a puppy."

"Regina –" Emma was staring.

"It's clear to see who the dominant one is and who the bottom is," the brunette shrugged, "just an obvious objection." She tasted her words whilst frowning. "No wait. An obvious observation. Right."

"Regina's drunk," Snow whispered into David's ear with a definite nod.

"Miss Steal your girl," Lucas whistled, smiling broadly at Regina. "Watch it there, Killian. She's got what it takes."

"And this conversation leads where?" the pirate wanted to know, obviously appearing pissed off.

All Emma could do was sit there and stare at the brunette who wasn't backing down with her gaze either. In fact, she elevated the situation by smirking, her gaze sweeping the other woman's body.

"Definitely on my bucket list," Regina purred, swaying a little. "Something to keep."

It was Killian who rolled his eyes. He stared out into the distance.

"I can't believe it," Ruby was gaping, "see I thought you could hold your liquor but you've had what? Five glasses? And you're sailing?"

"I don't sail like a filthy pirate," Regina informed her sharply. "I prefer the throne where I rule with the poise and composure –"

"…of a Queen," Killian halfheartedly continued, rolling his eyes. "We get the bloody idea."

"Oh fuck you," Regina sassed back, the hoarse quality of her voice obtaining a girly attitude. "You fish."

It was so hilarious, how out of character she was that everyone, including Killian ended up laughing. Even Emma, as she firstly stared back with her mouth agape and then she allowed a smile to come forth.

"I think you've had enough," Emma said to the brunette.

Regina, of course was all in high spirits. "Tell yourself the same thing every single time you cast your pretty eyes on him." She smiled sweetly. "He's nothing but a disappointment."

"And that makes you hero of the year?"

They both stared at each other. Regina sighed.

"What happens when a villain's path crosses with a saviour?" The brunette raised her glass. "The ultimate act of heroism initiates the process of redemption. I've done my share, haven't I?"

Emerald eyes latched onto brown ones as the staring contest began again.

" _I can be your hero, baby_ …" Ruby began to sing, lifting her glass at the other brunette. "Sing to her, Regina _. I can kiss away the pain_ …"

Snow laughed.

After feeling the bluntness of the conversation previously left to linger in her mind, she rose up with purpose. Fists clenched, she strode some distance away from the gathered party and stood in a stiff attitude just near the lapping water's edge. Where the sand was firmer and yet serving as a reminder to memories suddenly being unearthed after the trail of that conversation.

The brush of Regina's fingers on her cheeks.

How her skin felt afterwards. That…tingling sensation.

The way the brunette's brown eyes latched onto her emerald ones and held that intense gaze. Suggesting god knows what, apart from the obvious fact that something had changed between the two of them.

"Emma, is something wrong?" Snow called out, the wind playing with her voice.

"No," she waved it off and stood there deep in thought, hands on her hips, wondering. Pacing.

Of course the approaching brunette's footfalls were muffled in the sand. The younger woman was caught off guard when she felt a warm hand upon her right shoulder. Spinning around immediately, there Regina stood, her eyes glistening.

 **More? Review!**


	2. Bedtime

**x**

 **x**

"Maybe it's stupid of me to say this, but I say what I…say and I mean it." Her slurred words only fascinated the blonde, since she had never witnessed the older woman in this manner before.

"That's…good to know," Emma nodded, realizing that the same sensation Regina's fingers commenced upon her shoulder was a reminder of that moment between them in New York.

"And I don't want to be alone," her breathless manner in speaking worried the blonde, for she seemed to be overwhelmed with a rush of emotions that only intensified from the generous intake of alcohol. "I can't…sit or stand around and watch you…with him. I just…"

Emma considered the brunette's heaving chest and felt her own heart take giant leaps as well. "Take it easy," she suggested in a calm manner although a storm was building up a crescendo in her chest. "Come on. You've had more than enough to drink."

"He's not the one for you," Regina's brown eyes met hers. The wind whipped dark hair back and those eyes…

Emma noted the wetness of tears. "I know that you care. I really do. But this is what I want."

For a few seconds, the older woman did nothing but stare back. Biting her lips. Slowly blinking. Then there was a strained expression on her face. One that suggested an eruption of emotions that forced the blonde to reconsider her words. Because it seemed as if she had been spot on all along. And it was frustrating. In fact, it had been frustrating to gaze upon Regina's face and never be able to read what was happening behind the curtain.

Until now.

"I've had a few," the brunette said with a strained smiled. A sharp intake of breath signaled the dire need to build up enough courage on the spot.

"I noticed and I get it that you want to unwind. I know that things have been kind of frustrating for you recently," Emma tried to keep her distance now, displaying sympathy in her tone. "And I mean, after finding out that one way of killing the Evil Queen is to aim for the original. That's brutal. But –"

"I have to die," Regina stated, her voice huskier than before.

"No, you don't." The blonde seemed so sure of herself, that brown eyes met hers instantly. "Listen to me, we'll find another way. We always do. You're not going to die. You can't."

"Why?" Regina nervously laughed, "because you care about me so much that it bothers you to think of me being gone from your life?"

All those words strung together was more than enough for her to process all at once. Actually, the honesty in the brunette's suggestion only forced Emma to dive into that sentence and absorb all the emotions buried within. She could feel the pain. Feel the weigh. All of it. And without realizing it, her heart began to feel that emptiness that would exist if anything ever happened to the other woman.

"I do care about you," Emma chose to confirm, her hands folded. "You know that."

"Yes but how much?" Taking one step closer, the brunette was inches away and still a few shorter than the younger woman.

The blonde was reminded of a warm summer night many moons ago when she had first traversed the soil of this damn town. This godforsaken place that only fostered demons and torn fairytales. Only to find someone who managed to push their way into her personal space over and over again. Thousands of words exchanged. Millions of moments where she honestly felt like rushing in, taking the brunette by the shoulders and shaking her.

But none of that had occurred.

Instead she had stayed and learned to live with the flushed encounters by the other woman. The times when they would cross paths and their eyes would linger. Their gazes would dissolve the hate and the pain.

Now Regina had chosen to stand so close to her, she was reminded of those times in the past. Although the only difference was the dancing desire in the other woman's brown eyes. The way she seemed to believe that everything was linked to the riveting feelings swirling around inside that mind of hers.

"Come on, you know how much I care." Emma tried to seem unfazed by the proximity. But she really was failing.

The older woman's warm breath kissed the blonde's face. "Show me."

"What?"

"How much you care."

"You're…drunk, Regina," Emma laughed nervously, glancing back at the party gathered near the bonfire. None of them were paying any attention to the two women apart from the crowd.

"Do you honestly prefer the pirate over me? Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Emma's chin was immediately captured between warm fingers and her face directed just where the older woman wanted. For their eyes to meet.

"I know that you want me," A fire burned inside those brown orbs. The brunette smiled dangerously.

She was delirious. Regina had to be. "Why do you think that I –" her question was interrupted.

"Because for starters, I smell so much better. I'd surely dominate you in bed. And I'd leave you wanting more and more merely because of how…better I taste, in comparison to him."

Her words were so blunt, Emma's agape expression only provided clarity.

No.

Regina did not just utter those words. She wrapped her mind around that and still couldn't believe it. Alcohol or not, the older woman was really determined to lead this down a definite path.

"Wow," she managed to whisper. "Just…wow."

"I want to taste you, Emma," the brunette moved in closer again, her brown eyes still wet from tears and her words slurring. "All of you."

"Regina, I…" she tried to take a hold of the other woman's upper arms and move her away but the flames in the brunette's heart could not be stamped on.

She planted those flats upon the sand and refused to be moved. Her wet brown eyes provided enough clarity that she was swimming in emotions but also brave enough to jump ahead and do something rash.

"Take me to bed," Regina croaked. "Undress me and make love to me. Because I want it."

"Regina," Emma whispered, feeling that minty wave travel around in her chest. Swirling around. "You're seriously high. You don't know what you're saying right now. I think –"

"I know what I'm saying," the brunette said slowly, "because I'm thinking everything before I say it. I've been feeling this before. But it took a little more for me to jump out and say these things."

"I think," Emma gathered up enough composure to take the older woman's shoulders between her hands, "that you need to breathe. Come on." She nodded, levelling her emerald orbs with brown ones, "copy me. In…" She inhaled deeply and couldn't help but admire how adorable Regina appeared whilst she actually breathed in through parted lips.

"Then out…" They both repeated the process.

This stretched out for a full minute until Regina took a hold of the younger woman's shoulders. She wasn't about to let go. Not when they were so close. Not when everything was crystal clear….out in the open. The wind kissed her dark hair.

"Better?" Emma inquired, feeling the tension from her chest drift away.

"Yes," the brunette smiled. "Now, can you take me to bed?"

No progress. None at all but the intensity in that gaze returning as her warm fingers squeezed into the blonde's shoulders. Trying to unearth a reaction that was definitely happening.

"Regina, I can't do this," Emma said in a strained voice. She studied the other woman's face with worry etched on hers.

The brunette's chest heaved. "Why?"

"Because I just…can't. It's…just so sudden and I don't know if your words are genuine. And for crying out loud, I'm with Killian!"

"But you'd rather be with me," Regina nodded slowly, lowering her grip on the other woman's arms but never releasing them. "He's a man. I'm a woman."

"And why the hell does that mean something to me?" she was growing seriously frustrated, wondering how the heck they were even having this conversation. Blunt words. Words that definitely had slight humor to them but she was insistently treating as serious statements.

"He has chest hair…" those brown eyes widened as if she was afraid of just the thought of it. "I don't. He has…a beard. And he's muscular. I'm softer."

"I don't believe this," Emma stared back. "Do you honestly think that I'm into women?"

"Yes," Regina nodded. She folded her arms. "You really want me."

"Why would you even think so?" The blonde was amazed at that statement.

"He's a villain. I am," Regina began, her husky voice coming sharper now with barely a slur. "He wears eyeliner. I wear eyeliner."

"That doesn't mean –"

"He has had his heart broken terribly and sought revenge for it. I have had the same experience." She was ticking off the similarities inside her mind like clockwork and Emma began to reassess the possibility of alcohol really weakening the older woman's mental state. In fact, it appeared as if she was bolder and sharper.

"So you're saying that what I really want is…you," Emma nodded, her lips pursed briefly. "Because you're a little like him."

"Yes."

"So is that what you did with Robin?" She didn't realize those words had come forth until they lingered in the air. Their eyes held that gaze and maintained it. "He has a son. I do. He lost his partner tragically. I did. He's a thief. I was a thief."

"See?" Regina tilted her head and smiled. "It's not hard for you to utilize your brain cells."

"I think that I should really take you home now," Emma decided, shaking her head and worrying after the brunette more than ever.

Suddenly those brown orbs lit up. "Yes. I like that."

Shaking her head in disbelief, the younger woman took Regina's right arm and led her back to the campfire. After some protest by Killian on having his girlfriend accompany no other than the older brunette home, Emma won. Because she began to realize that if Regina lingered in the company of the others any longer, perhaps a lot more would slip out. So much more. Until Killian would be openly challenged and insulted because of his closeness to her.

So snatching up her jacket, she bid farewell to everyone and practically dragged the older woman along, Regina's arms dangling at her sides as she went. By the time they arrived at the yellow bug, that black dress had begun to climb higher up the brunette's thighs. Even when she tumbled into the front seat of the car, enough display of skin was evident as emerald eyes tried as hard as they could to tear themselves away from the sight.

And onward they drove.

X

"No, you have to stay on the couch," Emma twisted from between the covers on her bed and observed the shadowed figure standing by the doorway.

Her form was shrouded by a red blanket, draping down to the floor. And in her arms, Regina hugged the enormous pillow the blonde had provided.

"I can't," the brunette croaked. Her slumped shoulders displayed nothing but defeat.

Emma sighed. She reached over and flipped on the lamp on the nightstand. "Why?"

The soft yellow light was enough to illuminate the room and a little bit of the doorway. Regina was wearing a definite pout, her brown eyes sleepy.

"Because I want to sleep with you. In your bed."

"Stop being such a baby," Emma used the same tone she would use on Henry when he was being petulant and adorable. "And go back to the couch. It's huge and it's soft and it's just outside the door."

"I don't want to sleep on the couch," Regina whined. Dark hair fell like a curtain around her face as she leant forward. "Why can't you understand that?"

"Because I'm still trying to…" the blonde pushed herself up onto her elbows, "…process all of it. Like what you said about how you feel about me. I mean, I knew…somewhat. I guessed that you were into me. But I wasn't sure."

"I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to do."

Silence elapsed.

Emerald eyes slowly blinked. She really wanted to see past the expressed words on the beach. How the older woman was so blunt. Knowing what she wanted. Not quite being reckless whilst intoxicated but gathering up enough courage to say what she wanted to say.

"So," Regina continued after nothing was said, "have you processed it all now?"

"I still…need to." Emma felt a little uneasy but more relaxed than before.

"Are you mad at me?" Regina's adorable character only softened the younger woman's heart so much more.

She exhaled. "Of course I'm not mad at you."

"Then why would you order me to sleep outside in the dark –"

"There's a lamp out there!" Emma pointed out.

"…where there are shadows and sounds and the heater keeps whispering." Regina hugged herself, the blanket caressing the floor. "I don't want to stay out there. I want to stay with you. Where it's safer."

"When did you become some a big scaredy cat?" She actually smiled.

"Since I let go of my big bad wolf half and I turned into a ball of mush." Regina sighed. She slowly toed the threshold and frowned at her bare feet. "Letting go of the Evil Queen made me fall in love with you more. And I can't control it as I used to. The wall is gone. Everything just comes rushing out. Everything I didn't want you to see."

She totally understood how it felt to break down a wall. And after all, she had been pondering on exactly what Regina had done when she decided to rip her evil half away as a separate entity. Knowing that at some point, the brunette would turn softer and less scary. When she in fact did turn out that way, now there the blonde was, trying to shut her out. When she needed someone to cuddle her.

"If I let you come sleep with me," Emma dared, whilst brown eyes immediately latched onto her emerald ones, "will you promise not to try any funny business?"

"Usually I'm the irresistible one," Regina confessed with a shrug. "So you should really be worried about you. Not me."

What.

She was totally impressed by that and stared back in awe. So this was really going somewhere. Somewhere that led to her practically wrapping herself into a cocoon with the thick green blanket.

"Get in," Swan said without making eye contact. She decided to keep the lamp on just in case.

At times their nearness provided her with some kind of clarity that at least someone in her life other than Henry cared. Cared enough to linger near. To never display doubt on their face. Regina oftentimes would invade her personal space with little or no invitation and somehow…somehow that made the blonde feel welcoming.

Until now.

From the moment the older woman slipped into the bed, along slid her blanket. And although she had enough warmth available, her greedy hands reached for Emma's own source of warmth and the brunette yanked the sheet away.

A groan escaped the younger woman. Then a growl emanating from Regina. Very soon, their hands provided enough defense as the fighting ensued. Grabbing and twisting between the two blankets like two kids. Henry would have been quite confused had he stepped into the room and witnessed the childish antics between his two mothers.

Finally, when she had both blankets wrapped around her like a cocoon, Regina lay motionless, staring up at the ceiling. There was a triumphant expression on her face, those eyelashes slowly fluttering and Emma couldn't decipher the meaning behind such selfishness. She remained on her side of the bed, staring hard into the older woman's right cheek with her arms folded. Because the weather was bitter cold. A storm was obviously approaching.

"Give me back my blanket, Regina," she said, as calmly as possible.

The brunette's chest heaved. "No."

"I said give me back my damn blanket," Emma said through her teeth, fists clenched. "Or else –"

"Or else what?" brown eyes immediately turned to meet emerald ones. Slight amusement showed. "You'll fight me for it?"

Emma sighed. "You know I can use my magic to get my way, right?"

"Magic that…I…taught you," the older woman said with a smirk. "I can easily get it back."

There was silence.

They stared at each other.

Then Emma rolled her eyes. The ceiling was considered now.

Of all the fights they could ever have, this one was over comfort from a blanket. She couldn't believe it. Lying there and simmering as her space was invaded. Her heart was beginning to thud hard and slow. Every single beat could be heard in her ears. And just for a moment, she wanted to roll the brunette off of the bed. Roll her off like a blasted ball of mush.

"Why do you have to do this to me?" Emma whined, fretting as the cold gathered around the bottoms of her feet. She began to feel like an icicle. "I brought you here. I'm allowing you to stay over. And you're just behaving like a big kid."

"A kid who needs a good spanking," Regina's admitted hoarsely.

The blonde glanced her way. "I'm not that type."

Brown eyes met emerald ones. "So you like being spanked?"

"Give me back my blanket."

"Answer the question. Do you like being spanked?"

Emma's chest heaved. "No. I don't. I'm not into that kind of stuff. Bet that makes me less attractive, huh?"

Brown eyes narrowed. Regina seemed amused. "I can show you how pleasurable foreplay can be when aided by extras. All you have to do is trust me."

"You're so high right now. I'm going to forget you even said that." Emma raised her eyebrows though, internally wondering if the older woman was really into that sort of thing.

"I might be. But clarity is still evident. My senses become sharper. My tongue is equipped. My brain fueled by courage."

"So…" Emma actually turned on her side, facing the brunette as the actuality of the situation kicked in. Regardless of how she evidently displayed her frustration in having company over, especially someone who was deeply attracted to her, she would have to tolerate the consequences.

She wanted to know more suddenly. About the other woman's lifestyle. About whether she was cute and cuddly or dark and twisted in bed.

"So…" Regina turned on her side, but slowly, reaching up to tuck a chunk of dark hair behind an ear. She was still wrapped in both blankets, the curve of her hips quite evident; the curve of her thighs too.

"You've been with a woman before, huh?" she was fishing but not with a heavy heart.

Regina nodded. "Yes. Not only one. But several."

Emma swallowed hard. So there was enough experience. "And you're also attracted to men?"

The other woman blinked once. "Yes."

"But how does it work?" Swan was confused. "Isn't it possible that maybe you're not really…into both of them?"

"Why are we having this two faced conversation when it's evident that I'm only attracted to you?"

"Because suppose you're with…" She clamped her mouth shut and reassessed those words. "Suppose you're with a woman…as in a relationship and then a man comes along that you find attractive."

"If you're worrying about me being unfaithful to you then you're wasting your time," Regina explained in her husky voice boldly. "I would never stray away from someone like you. Now stop wasting time and –"

"Okay," Emma held up a hand to signal her displeasure in having any kind of disagreement between them. "Okay fine. Here's what…give me back my blanket and then I'll talk to you. One on one. For as long as you want."

The older woman's scrutiny on the blonde's face was done slowly. Seconds slid by. Time that gave Emma enough space to consider her options.

If she indeed decided to be led down this path, then there was no chance of turning back. Things would be revealed. Stuff would be said. Confessions made. At some point, Regina would shake her mentally. She would crack her walls. And Emma would never have a good night's sleep. All because she was hiding a secret that was buried so deep inside. A secret that would possibly destroy her.

Regina only had to scratch the surface and everything would seep out.

Slowly but surely, the brunette began to unwound her body from the blanket. Slowly as if she was unwrapping herself like some kind of present for the other woman to see. Noting how the curve of her hip was quite evident. The softness of her thighs and her flawless honey coloured skin.

Emma's eyes followed every move, marveling over the graceful movement of those fingers. Fingernails painted red. The way Regina's dark hair fell into her brown eyes a little and she managed to appear so perfectly cute and so damn sexy at the same time. Especially her little intakes of breath through those parted lips. The blonde just wanted to reach over and run her fingertips across an expanse of skin appearing so soft just above the older woman's obvious cleavage.

"Here you go," Regina suddenly decided that it was best to tuck Emma in between the blanket. But then that was more than expected. Her desperate need to display such love and affection. She carefully tucked Swan in as if she was a child, paying special attention to the younger woman's feet, and folding the blanket under them.

"Now unwrap your layers and allow me to devour every bit of you," Regina purred, a fire burning in those eyes.

To say that she was wowed would be an understatement. No. She was immediately cracking, drowning in such comfort and care and wondering where this side of Regina had been concealed all along. The part of her that not only appeared seriously maternal but evidently warm and cuddly and extremely adorable.

She was cracking already.

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	3. Caving In

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x

"Now," the brunette nestled her head onto the pillow and blinked slowly, whilst lying on her side, "as promised. Let's talk to each other."

"I didn't want to have this conversation with you being tipsy and all but –"

"I'm not tipsy." Regina seemed slightly offended.

"Your words are slurring though."

"Barely."

Emma shook her head and smiled. "Honestly, you're someone else when you've had a few. Where do you go when you're not like this? In a shell?"

A face that could never be read easily. Glancing at each other from across a room and as desperately as she would try to pull back the curtain behind those brown eyes, Emma couldn't get in.

"I fold up and hide inside my castle that I've built in my heart," the brunette admitted softly whilst pressing a clenched fist onto her heaving chest. "Where I can protect myself and never worry about anyone getting in."

"But you've let me in," Emma said, admiring a few strands of hair that rested on the older woman's left cheek.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Regina's chest heaved. "Initially you were the one that came barging in. You never seemed to ever want to give up. So don't blame me for letting you in. My only choice was to adjust to you being in my life."

"And by doing so, you fell for me?" Emma considered the statement. She tasted those words. "How?"

"Would you like me to take my heart out so that you can ask about the mechanics that are involved when it comes to love?"

Emma considered the question she had pitched out between them and understood the complications. You didn't choose who you fell for. Falling for someone would just happen. Just like that. Without warning. Like Neal. She never imagined that she would fall for him. He had been a thief. He had nothing much to offer. No kind of security but promises.

But with Regina, it was so different.

She was the definition of independence. Being her own woman. Having so much to offer. Her own mansion. A bank account that was possibly larger than life. And her heart.

Emma sighed.

Honestly, if she could ever reach in there and capture the older woman's heart, to feel it, the warmth and honesty and everything else would be so evident. Not because she had separated herself from her evil half. But because she had so much potential to love someone so deeply without having any regrets. Regina could practically drown another person with her intense conversations and gazes, so it was only fitting to imagine what magnitude her commitment came with.

"Say something to me," the brunette croaked, those brown eyes like pools of chocolate threatening to drown Emma.

"I want to ask you something, but I don't know if you'll answer."

"After you've known me for so long," Regina said. "Can't you see how open I would be, especially to you?"

"Well," emerald eyes were lowered, as her fingers pinched the sheet between them. She smiled and shrugged. "I guess that there's that. The two of us having this…connection. You know, like…" she adjusted herself and inhaled deeply, "…after every single person I've come across in my life, you're the only person that kind of…gets me worked up."

"Meaning?"

"Like you…I don't know," the blonde shrugged, "you get under my skin pretty much all the damn time. And sometimes it's really annoying. But then I realize that you know what makes me tick and you just do things and say things that would make me react. I don't know how the hell you do it."

Regina's chest rose and fell slowly. She cupped the side of her face between the pillow and smiled. "Because maybe we were wired to understand each other more than we understand anyone else."

The blonde's eyes fluttered close. She smiled. "Stop being so poetic."

"Oh I haven't even begun as yet," Regina said matter-of-factly.

Emma laughed. "I don't doubt that."

"I can quote Pablo Neruda and Poe. Until your toes begin to curl."

"Stop it," the blonde shyly avoided eye contact again.

It was finally happening. The needle slipping from 'fully composed' to 'softening up'. She realized that. She understood how her heart worked. What made her feel certain things deeply. But she could never understand how and why she would fall for certain persons. Never. It just happened. But there were a few things that always seemed to grab her around the ankles and she would be tugged into the pit of love.

Honesty. Eye contact. Boldness. Confidence. Someone knowing what they wanted. Someone gazing at her as if she meant the world.

"Why me?" she found that her voice sounded rather strange. A little hoarse. Smaller. "Of all the women in this town. Why are you even feeling this way about me?"

Regina allowed the silence to slip by without replying.

In that time, Emma bundled up her doubts.

"I'm not even that good looking. I'm just…plain. I don't even wear makeup and when I do, I feel as if I'm trying too hard. Plus, I don't think I'm even capable of giving you what you want."

"And you know exactly what I want," Regina stated, but in a soft tone.

Emma allowed their eyes to meet. "I guess that I can't imagine what you'd want from me."

"Have you ever considered the fact that we are more similar than you think?"

"I know that we're similar," Emma agreed. "I know that. I just don't get why it's me. I just thought that you'd want someone different. Like Robin. He seemed to fit with you. He sheltered you with all his softness and how he cared and -"

"You shelter me," Regina said. The wind howled beyond the walls. The dream catcher hanging from the ceiling swayed a little. "You care. You…care about me more than anyone else in this town. And to prove how much you care, Emma, you've saved me countless times without even realizing it."

"I never thought of that as something I was forced to do," the blonde said softly, "to me, caring about you comes naturally."

"So why can't you admit that you're in love with me?"

Emerald eyes widened. Swan felt a pang in her chest. She swallowed hard. "Because I'm with someone else?"

"But then if you're with him, then why are you entertaining this kind of conversation with me?" Regina wanted to know. "You're aware of willingly letting me in here whilst you're also aware of my feelings for you…"

"I get that…" Emma agreed. "But it still doesn't answer the question…Why me."

Regina sighed. In turn, she lowered her gaze to rest on the distance between them. "If you could only see how beautifully flawed you are through my eyes. How perfectly capable you are of doing everything you want. Of getting what you want. Then you might not even understand. But I'll tell you this. There are simple things in life everyone wants. Mundane things. A degree. A house. A car. A family. And that's it for them. But I don't want that. I never did. And I know that we both want the same thing."

"And that is?" Emma was curious, hanging onto every word.

"Permanence," Regina gazed at her for a long time. "Roots. A reason to stay put. A reason to wake up and smile without forcing yourself to. Knowing that I'm not just going to be available. But I'll shelter you, regardless of what happens. Because you've seen how I pull you up when you're not strong enough. Maybe in life people oftentimes make the mistake of being with someone only for the comfort and security. But they refuse to acknowledge the fact that we also need someone to fit us back together when we're broken."

"Is this what alcohol does to you?" Emma was astounded.

"I need someone to love the chaos inside of me, and all my demons. Just as you need someone to never judge you based on your past. But to understand why you did what you did."

"God, that's deep, Regina," the blonde whispered.

"That's what happens when I'm in love with someone," the older woman confessed. "You can say that I'm in too deep."

"But when the hell did this happen?" Emma was staring. "I mean, after Robin and the fights between us."

"I hated you so much that I began to love you even harder."

"That can _really_ happen?"

Regina nodded once. "Yes."

"But you wanted to kill me…"

"But fate…prevented me from doing that. Isn't it obvious why?" The brunette's chest heaved.

"Just as fate led me here."

"Because I adopted your son."

Emma laughed. "Henry started all of this, didn't he?"

"I suppose so. But I also believe that fate was aligned since you were born. You were destined to break the curse. And in the process, you would somehow manage to break the Evil Queen."

"I did all of that, didn't I?"

"I'll tell you what," Regina shifted a little and captured the blanket between her fingers. Pulling the ends closer to the blonde's bunched up hands, she was able to at least close the distance between them. But carefully enough. "Why don't you let me kiss you. Just once. And then you can break me out of my shell even more?"

The request was so bluntly put but quite captivating. It was evident that the older woman didn't want to hold back. She was in too deep and allowing herself to drown regardless of the situation.

"Regina…" Emma croaked, her chest suddenly tickling with anxiety.

"What's wrong?" the brunette frowned, her fingers barely touching the younger woman's fingers upon the sheet.

"I'm…not sure about this," emerald eyes were lowered as the blonde considered their hands drawing nearer.

"Why are you not sure?"

Why wasn't she sure?

Emma's mind allowed thoughts to wrap around inside all that chaos like vines. Twisting and turning. Trying to meet and failing. Because she had so many doubts springing up like weeds instead of cutting them all down and focusing on the positive things. On the things that would make her toes curl instead of fearing judgment and disappointments.

She couldn't breathe. "Because I'm with Killian. I love him."

"Do you truly think so?" Regina willed her fingers to finally curl around Emma's hands. Slowly. And her gesture was welcomed.

"I don't know," the younger woman's lips suddenly quivered. She couldn't make eye contact. Not now. Not when she was crumbling and crumbling fast.

"Then there's your answer."

"Regina, I just can't walk away." The blonde felt the warmth the older woman's fingers provided, her words being so powerful.

"I'm not asking you to walk away. I'm asking you to divert from the path that you're on. You're not on the right path. And you know that. Deep down inside, you're so certain of what you want. Of how wrong he is for you. But you're just afraid to let go. Because of the fear of disappointing him, and your parents."

Emerald eyes glistened from tears.

"There's a saying, that if you're in love with two people, Emma, then choose the second person you fell for. Because you really weren't completely in love with the first, so that you ended up finding so much more with the second. And that's me." The brunette placed it bluntly.

She just couldn't understand, could she? Emma felt those feelings twisting inside her heart and she couldn't form a reply.

Regina grasped the younger woman's hands between hers. "Tell me what you want. Deep down inside. Prove to me that I'm wrong. That what I feel has nothing to do with our connection. And I'm just being delusional."

The seconds slipped by so slowly in silence.

Rain began to splatter onto the window glass behind them and on the roof. Sounds that should have soothed her but she was drowning. She was falling. Arms flailing. Down and down she went, sinking into that black hole where doubts tugged at her arms and feet. Where she couldn't breathe.

"I can't love you the way that you want me…to," Emma whispered.

Regina considered how the younger woman's expression was strained. She swallowed. "I want you to look at me. And I want you to say exactly what you just said again." Her voice trembled somewhat, but her tone was direct enough.

Emma began to shake her head before even realizing it. "I can't do this."

"Look at me," the brunette croaked, squeezing the other woman's hands between hers.

"I can't," Emma said weakly and just like that, although it was painful, she slid her fingers out of Regina's grasp. Dying inside. "I just…can't."

"Why?" Regina seized those fair hands between hers and held on. "Answer me."

She wished that her heart wasn't beating so loudly. In her head. Even her lungs began to feel like sacks containing bricks. Over and over again the alcohol pushed her further. To say more. To do more.

"If you're in doubt then let me talk to you. Let me…" brown eyes rested on the younger woman's fingers growing stiff between her grasp. "Let us talk to each other some more. I'm here for you."

"You can't understand the way I feel about this," Emma refused to make eye contact.

Regina blinked slowly. She willed her voice to remain soothing. "Then tell me everything."

"It's not that simple," the blonde said. Her hands began to feel clammy. "It's not like I'm an open book and it's not easy for me to talk about certain things."

The brunette nodded although her heart ached. She buried the urge to reach out and enfold the other woman in her arms. "Okay. Okay," she nodded. "Then let me talk to you. Because I want to talk to you."

"You've already said so much," Emma pointed out, "more than I thought you'd say."

"Then let's talk about something else," the older woman pressed on, her voice growing rustier from emotions welling up. "Anything else. How about…our plans to lock the Evil Queen in a snow globe and we'll sell it to some peddler from a far off land."

Switching paths.

It was a bit easier to imagine that.

Emerald eyes sparkled a little.

Regina finally took an easy breath. "And we'll hope that he sells her off to some petulant child who refuses to cease shaking the globe so that the Evil Queen tumbles and falls."

The blonde chuckled. She lowered her gaze and allowed her fingers to be held again. "Some rich kid who hates snow globes right?"

"Right," the older woman smiled along, her heart beats spacing out gradually. That was more like it.

Taking it easy.

Diverting.

"But guess what," Emma said in a softer tone, her toes curling a little when Regina began to massage the younger woman's fingers slowly. The feeling was growing.

Brown eyes watered a bit from the other woman's cute expression. "What?"

It was an easy confession. "I kind of liked the Evil Queen inside of you. When she occasionally peeped out. From time to time when she started a fire in your eyes."

"Oh?" Regina was slightly taken aback. She honestly believed Emma had hated that part of her.

"Yeah," the blonde nodded. "I liked the flare."

"To spice up your love life…" the older woman joked. "With her saucy remarks and kinky bedroom habits. I understand the attraction."

"No, I…" Emma's cheeks coloured. She didn't wish to seem compliant immediately. "I wasn't really trying to go into that department. More like…our conversations and stuff."

Brown eyes narrowed but were pinched from a smile crossing the brunette's face. "But you cannot deny that your mind wandered…"

"Only when you mentioned it," Emma stated in a soft tone.

It wasn't the truth. In fact, her mind had wandered before. Many times. To moments when she would sit in silence and peel away the older woman's clothing. At least trying to reveal the sexual appeal everyone spoke about. The hidden secrets.

"So you've never thought of me as more than your friend." Regina was slipping into murky waters but her mind already had no filter.

"Not really," Emma smiled though.

The brunette caught on and squeezed the other woman's fingers. "Stop lying to me. You have. At least twice. Thought of what I would be like in bed. Haven't you?"

"Regina…" the blonde dragged out the older woman's name. She barely glanced at her.

"You don't have to be ashamed of it. I'm quite aware of your lingering eyes. Every so often I find you gazing at me. It's very nice."

"You're so full of yourself, aren't you?" Emma smiled.

Regina shrugged. "I try not to be but it's not in my nature to not have an abundance of sex appeal."

"You really are –" and she stopped herself. Just like that. The blonde ceased up and swallowed her words whilst the older woman awaited the verdict.

Anything. Anything at all.

"I really am…" Regina croaked. Their eyes connected.

But she couldn't speak. She just couldn't. Emma was frozen. She glitched.

A few minutes slipped by. And both of them gazed at each other.

The brunette couldn't help herself. "I'm what…Emma?" She tried again. Those brown eyes blinked. "I'm…what you…really…want?"

Even before she could, the younger woman swallowed that painful 'yes'. She willed her hands to remain connected with the other woman's hands.

"You are allowed to say it," Regina said in that husky voice of hers. "There isn't a rule that says that a Princess cannot fall in love with a Queen. We're allowed to live our own fairytale. You and me."

It was the way she strung those words together. The way she simply…uttered them without so much effort. Smoothly. As if her heart sang a song that flowed like a stream. Whilst inside the blonde's heart, all there was, was chaos. Turmoil. And she swallowed her confessions. She choked on them.

"I want you, Emma," Regina tried again. "I really do. I want every part of you. But especially your heart and not because I wish to add yours to my vault. But I want to fill the empty spaces and repair the cracks and I want to make you whole again."

She couldn't hold back the tears. Emma just couldn't. "Don't…" she whispered.

"Why?" the brunette croaked. "Because you're not used to someone speaking to you like the way I am? Because you've never been spoken to like that by another woman? Well guess what… there's always a first. And I want to be the last too."

She wasn't allowed to do this to her. Emma was caving in. She just wasn't supposed to do this. To drive herself in and crash. Not like this. Why. Why was she doing this to her.

"Look at me," Regina tried.

But Emma couldn't.

"I just need to…" she was untangling herself from the blanket suddenly, avoiding the hands reaching out to her. And then she was standing up but weak in the knees. "I'll take the couch."

"No, let me –"

"It's fine," Emma croaked, tears spilling onto her cheeks. She batted them away quickly, reaching for her blanket and slowly tugging the fabric away. "Stay where you are. I'll be in the next room."

"And what if I need you?" Regina asked softly, her heart aching terribly.

"You don't need me," the blonde said, moving to the door with heavy feet. She sniffed and tried so hard to fight back the tears. "You really don't."

Regina swallowed back a sob. She stared at the bedroom door as it didn't completely shut itself. But the door remained slightly ajar. She could hear her shuffling around out there. In fact, the brunette had to restrain the urge to follow the other woman. And then…night poisoned them both into a drowning sleep that was black and dreamless.

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	4. In Doubt

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Best Friend Stories

Deep concentration on someone's face oftentimes reveals a lot more than what someone would bargain for.

Like the intent to simply seek out an expression. Only to further delve in and realize that the person's eyes were like windows to their soul. Little pools that swam with tears when one was sad. Or shone from happiness. Dull when bored. And in Regina's case, downcast and glistening from tears because of love.

Snow never understood why everyone wanted to leave the brunette inside a metal box. On display like a bad villain. When the truth behind those eyes revealed so much pain and so much hurt. The possibility of even having some slice of happiness was something that strained the older woman's expression and forced lines out on her once flawless face.

Now and again, behind her smile, Snow could detect the cracks that ached her friend's chest. The way her fingers slowly curled upon the table between them and the silence that ensued. Silence. When Regina would at least acknowledge her presence by making eye contact. When she would nod. Or she would shrug. But now…

Now her demeanor was changed. Those slumped shoulders suggested defeat. A warrior that had been beaten and torn from war, now sitting before a campfire and never even feeling the flames. But the scars. Those always seemed to hurt the most. Heartbreaks that stung her like bolts of lightning.

Snow studied Regina's countenance and frowned. She inhaled deeply. "I really don't like seeing you like this. It makes me uneasy. Not because I'm afraid that you'll lash out. But I'm just so worried about what's hurting you."

Nothing was said.

Instead, the older woman seemed to be lost in a daydream, staring outside without blinking.

"And I always know what's hurting you," Snow used a softer voice. "It's always love."

Regina let out a long sigh. Her arms circling around the teacup upon the table.

Snow reached out and enveloped the older woman's hands into hers. "Tell me what happened."

"I don't want to talk about it," Regina said halfheartedly. Her gaze slid away from the other woman and returned to the scene beyond the window where it rained and the world seemed to weep.

The silence ensued, filled with Ruby returning to fill their cups with more tea.

Perhaps it was something that displayed a change in her character because Regina never chose anything over coffee. Unless it was hot cocoa with Henry. But people could change when love seeped in. And so did she.

"Did the two of you sleep together?" Snow's eyes were huge. Upon lifting her cup, the porcelain froze just in front of her mouth.

"No." Regina's voice was barely audible. "We slept apart."

"But how?" The short hair brunette was astounded. "How did you allow that to happen?"

"More like…how did I fail to even envision the bitter end result of having her walk away," Regina's hoarse voice was affected by hurt. "I had her connected to me. I was so close. And then I…." Her clenched fists signaled anguish slipping in, "I don't know what the hell happened."

Snow immediately captured the other woman's hands between hers. "You only said what you wanted to say. You shouldn't have any regrets."

"Yes, but she drifted away. She tugged herself away. I can't get in –"

"You can," Snow nodded. "You already did. All it takes now is for you to show her how amazing it is to be with you instead of Hook. And you can't do that by sucking up Whiskey and then slurring your words."

"I needed to build courage," Regina said matter-of-factly. "I needed…fuel to push out the truth."

"A Queen never needs alcohol to say what she wants to say. Well as far as I know. You never needed that kind of motivation. You always said what you wanted to say and you were never intoxicated whilst doing so."

"Emma isn't a realm to conquer," the older woman said stiffly. "She's a woman who needs –" Her sentence was clipped off when the bell above the door into the Diner tinkled.

Hearts could beat wildly. Hearts could even slow down. But to come to a standstill. Just when you couldn't breathe? She lost all attachment to the ball of chaos swirling around in her soul and immediately the world fitted into place.

Emma appeared as usual, but with downcast eyes, bundled up in a grey sweater, the collar turned up. In she came and without even considering the seating options, her footsteps led their way.

Snow considered her daughter approaching the table, and she consciously swiveled her head back to observe Regina's face. Knowing that perhaps it wasn't wise for this kind of confrontation right after a sleepless night. But apparently the blonde's countenance displayed anything but displeasure in seeing the older woman.

"Hey, you two", she said smiling and sliding into the seat right next to her mother. "I definitely need a cup of hot cocoa. What are you having?" Her head drifted to consider Snow's choice.

Regina was still staring. "I'm having…" she tried to breathe but couldn't, "…tea."

Emerald eyes gazed in awe across the table at the brunette. "What happened to the usual? I know you love your coffee."

The actuality of having the blonde speak to her in such changed spirits seemed to mute Regina. At first. Snow nudged the older woman's boot under the table and she startled a little.

"I don't feel very coffee today," Regina said, offering a smile. "Maybe it's the weather."

"Not pleased to hear that," Emma kept her eyes on the brunette. Her face was unreadable. "The weather can be such a bitch sometimes. Especially when it's raining. Would you like a bagel too? I know that it's not your thing but –"

"Of course I'd like one," the older woman immediately gave in, although Snow had offered earlier to provide just the same and was declined.

Emma's kind eyes only rested on Regina a little longer, leaving the latter to deeply consider the previous night's events. There she sat in her corner delving into all the chaos and trying to untangle everything. In order to find the root cause of warming emerald eyes directed her way instead of tears and a saddened face.

As usual, when the pixie cut brunette was between any kind of love captivating scene, she would fluff up in a corner and soak in the feelings. And sitting there, Snow could feel the warmth emanating from the two women, especially Emma. Because although she might be in denial, her daughter still deeply cared about Regina. Deeply. If she didn't care, then she wouldn't have been there in the first place.

She wouldn't have come into the Diner and approached them after a chaotic night, only to sit down and offer the other woman a bagel. Oftentimes, Emma reminded her so much of herself. Always having enough space in her heart to love everyone before herself. To protect the ones she love. To care so much more.

"Here," Emma was handing Regina the bagel swathed between a tissue. Their fingers brushed, as it was unavoidable and neither of them flinched but seemed to savor the connection. "It's warm. So it's good for this kind of weather."

"Thank you," the brunette said softly, slowly lifting the morsel up to her lips. "You're an angel." She slipped in before taking a small bite, her eyes never leaving the other woman.

"I try," Emma seemed to sink into the seat, curling up as if those words had a massive effect on her.

Finally when Snow had left to meet David at the Sherriff's station, the two women had the space all to themselves. Which was filled with silence for a very long time whilst they ate. Nevertheless, the tension that would have been created, never seemed to happen. In fact, it was probably the attitude in which the blonde sat that soothed the brunette's mood. As if she was so comfortable, snuggling up just near the window.

"About last night," Regina began, as her throat ached and the rain poured down outside.

"Yeah I behaved so stupid," the younger woman confessed. She sucked on her thumb and considered it. "I don't know what the hell happened to me."

At first she was kind of struck dumb by those choice of words. But then her mind latched onto a thought and chased it.

"Where are we now?" Regina wanted to know. Her chest was aching all of a sudden. "I don't mean to be ever so blunt but…what I said last night, I said it in all honesty."

"I can see that," Emma said, leveling her cool expression on the other woman. "Alcohol's worn off and you're still sending me heart eyes from across there."

"I don't…have heart eyes." Elbow on the table, the brunette rested her chin upon curled up fingers. "And everything I said to you last night was done with purpose."

"So…you regret nothing," the younger woman stared, her bagel almost finished already.

Regina's brows knitted. "Why would I?"

"I just thought…" Emma swallowed finally. She swallowed hard and continued that long stare, fearing that the brunette would suddenly offer a smile. That she would somehow confess that everything said last night had been a joke. Her being under the influence of alcohol.

"You thought that I lied?" Regina's arms were folded.

"Dunno," the blonde shrugged, shifted in her position and avoided eye contact.

"Why on earth would I lie about something like that?"

"I've seen alcohol do some pretty messed up stuff to people," Emma said warily. "Maybe I thought that it wasn't genuine. At least most of it."

Regina sat there and folded inwards. She was collapsing. "So whatever I said, you never took me seriously…The intent behind my words. Nothing truly sank in as me being downright honest with you."

"Look, I never saw that side of you," the blonde explained, still avoiding eye contact. "You can't blame me. There were things that got to me –"

"Like what?" Regina croaked, her brown eyes glistening from tears.

Immediately emerald ones latched onto hers. The seriousness in that look from the younger woman suggested that she had been torn away from being tangled in a web of confusion and now all severity in the situation was revealed in the brunette's tone of voice.

"Stuff that you…said," Emma said slowly, gesturing a little above the table.

"It was all basic to you, wasn't it?" the brunette's tone signaled her becoming terribly upset.

"Regina, I listened to you, okay?" the younger woman tried a levelled tone in return. "I'm not saying that I didn't listen. Or I didn't care. I heard what you said."

"Okay." Brown eyes tore into the blonde's soul. Just for a few seconds. She displayed her completely wounded heart and then Regina cast her eyes elsewhere, arms still folded.

The mobile resting on the table began to vibrate in a pulsating manner. Both of them stared at the device, and for a few seconds, nothing was done. Then with a scowl, Emma snatched up her phone and slid a thumb across the screen.

"Yeah," the call was answered, but her tone didn't suggest a friendly mood. "I told you not to call me."

Regina sat across the table and couldn't help but listen in. In the meantime, her tea cup was slowly lifted up to meet parted lips. She sipped, her attention never diverting from the other woman.

"Yeah but you made it clear that you want nothing to –" Emma's eyes fluttered close. She was definitely frustrated. "Look, I don't want to discuss this now. I said that I can't do it today and that's it." Her voice rose a few octaves. "No, Killian. Stop being so damn paranoid. I'm in the Diner." Her gaze rested on the brunette. "By myself."

Regina's heart sank, and she suddenly felt the burden of being a secret. Of sitting there and being the witness of something crucially damaging, not only to her mental state, but to her emotions.

"I can't talk right now," Emma said into the phone. "I'll call you later."

"No," the brunette suddenly mouthed, shaking her head. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. "It's fine. I'm leaving." And without awaiting a response, she rose up, weak in the knees and pulled her purse along.

"No, wait!" came the blonde's response in a hurried fashion.

But she couldn't wait. Not when lies were being told and sides were taken. To conceal from him the obvious truth. Simply that she had chosen to spend time with her. Why would Emma lie? Why wouldn't she just accept things as they were?

The door.

Focusing. Trying to focus on something. Anything that would suppress the urge to cry and to stop the shaking. Because she was suddenly losing control. Her fingertips felt so cold, and without even considering her options, the brunette pulled the door open and rushed outside into the downpour.

By the time her slumped form found shelter, she was drenched. The black long sleeved shirt and black tailored pants she had on were soaked through. And she was trembling, hugging herself under the shed attached to the Animal Shelter. Emma was nowhere in sight. But would obviously catch up in time. So providing that enough damage was done, the brunette darted through the rain and disappeared in the haze.

X

"Well you fucked up, that's what," Ruby nodded at Snow. "She fucked up, right Snow?"

"Of course she did," the pixie cut brunette nodded to show approval. "Big time."

Emma was gawking.

There they were, seated upon the carpet in the Charmings' apartment encircling a game of cards. David was in the kitchen stirring a pot of soup whilst Henry was buried in his videogame on a sofa in the corner.

"So both of you know about her feelings for me?" The blonde lowered her voice to prevent her son from eavesdropping.

Ruby slammed down her card and offered the other woman a smug look. "Anyone who doesn't know about Regina's feelings for you is an ass."

"I mean, she even went to Archie about it", Snow said whilst assessing her hand. She plucked a card from between the ones splayed out between her fingers and pressed it down neatly onto the pile. "She told me about that. Emma I am so disappointed in you." Her scowling expression was directed in the blonde's direction.

"What the hell?" the younger woman stared back. "I thought you didn't have a problem with Killian?"

"That was before I realized how madly in love with you Regina is. Regina comes first," Snow said matter-of-factly. "Besides, she's already family. And for you to treat her the way you are treating her, it's unacceptable."

"But I'm not even sure what I should do."

"Are you fucking delirious or something?" Ruby was always the blunt one. She suddenly threw her hand of cards down and groaned. "Look, I've had enough. It's time we talk about how brainwashed you are with Killian. First of all –"

"You're with a man who has no ambition whatsoever," Snow spoke up, "and he's waiting on you to ask him to move in with you. What kind of world did he grow up in? Where a woman must ask a man to move in with her? The man is supposed to do that. Emma, you're a Princess. And he's not living up to our expectations at all."

She remained silent, seated upon the carpet with the cards still captured between her fingers.

"No, I think she loves the idea of being the dominant one. Like owning her shit and doing what she wants. That's her." Lucas stated.

"Just for a second," Emma's eyes fluttered close and she held a hand up in Ruby's direction. "Can you please stop judging me? I'm me. I can't change who the hell I am."

"But you lowered your standards for Hook," Lucas pointed out bluntly.

Both of them glared at each other. It was Snow's turn to get in between two hard places and to settle the score whilst David took a seat on the sofa behind Emma.

"Wait a minute," she piped up, smiling. "Let's take a deep breath and talk about this. Let me…talk," she yanked Lucas back into her place as the taller brunette was about to playfully flip the blonde's ponytail.

"Let her talk," David agreed, sipping from his spoon.

"Emma," Snow's chest heaved as she considered her daughter, "do you even see a future with Killian? The two of you having a family and such? Do you really see that? Or is it just you wanting a family and being happy but you're not attaching him to any of it?"

"I don't want to say anything right now," Emma's voice shook a little. She seemed completely angered by Ruby's statements. "Let's talk about something else."

"Why don't you ladies," David rose up with his bowl of soup, "continue the game of cards whilst I take my daughter out onto the balcony and we have a little chat?"

Handing the bowl over to his wife, he gestured for Emma to accompany him but she appeared to be torn between two spots. Until her eyes rested on Lucas and finally, she unfolded herself. Anywhere was better to be than with Ruby and her rude remarks. Anywhere else.

The balcony was small and rather an understatement for the word. But it was enough to fit a comfortable chair. She sat on her folded feet on one side and David took the other cushion. Both of them said nothing at first, but merely observed beyond the railing where rain pelted down onto rooftops and the night seemed darker and dreary.

"I'm indifferent in the whole situation," David finally said, arms folded. He gazed at the scene before him. "Knowing that both persons have what they can have to bring to the table. And it's up to you to decide what your heart really wants."

"I never knew she felt that way about me, dad," Emma's voice was hoarser. "Apparently everyone knew except me. I'm talking about way back. Even before she was with Robin, there were these obvious feelings for me. And I didn't know. I didn't…know." Her downcast eyes glistened with tears. "It makes me feel as if I'm the problem."

"You're not the problem," David said softly, adjusting his position on the chair so that he could at least make some eye contact with her. "In fact, I believe that she pulled you into this a little too soon. And for your information, I didn't even know Regina was inclined to you in that way. Only last night I picked up something in the way she was talking about you. And I sat there and I found myself considering her carefully, only to discover that she seemed pretty genuine to me. Alcohol and all."

Emma sighed. She folded her arms, mimicking her father.

"I'll admit though, Hook seems laid back, doesn't he?"

"He…wants what he wants," the blonde explained. "He cares about me. I don't have a problem with him."

"I'm not saying that he's insufficient. I'm saying that you need someone to not only fight for you and care for you, but someone to also build you up. Someone who encourages you to do your best."

"He does that," Emma said.

"Yeah, but he's taking a little too long to even look for a place. It's almost as if he's leaning on you to do all the work. And then he'll fall into place. I thought that he would have gotten an apartment at least with all the money he has. But he's staying on his ship. Doesn't that say something to you? Where a man stays is always reflective of where he wants to be."

She soaked up his words and read between the lines. Realizing that indeed Killian was opting to remain where he was instead of choosing another abode.

"Hook's life is at sea," David said softly, "where his passion lies in sailing the waters and discovering new lands. He doesn't know how to live away from the water. And that's not something you understand. Because when you want him to pave the path for you both to go somewhere, he's always going to want you to lead the way."

Emma lolled her head back and sighed.

"Regina on the other hand…well," David half laughed. "Although their pasts are similar, she's the one who fits closer to something you'd consider as normal than Killian. She has her head on her shoulders, that's for sure. And although I hate to admit it after all this time, you're the one that brought peace between us and you're the one that stopped the fighting. She's not going to fall for anyone else but you. And we kind of expected this to happen initially."

"You did?" Emerald eyes focused on him.

David laughed again. "Come on, you've had quite the impact on the woman. What else did you expect? For you to just remain as friends? I don't think so." He shook his head. "She's too powerful to fit with any man. I've always seen it coming. Even back in the days when she was Queen. No man could ever get in. But if you want to be with someone who will lead the way when you can't, then she's the perfect one."

"That's just it," Emma said, finally fitting into the conversation. "What about when I need her to show her mushy side and she just wants to own it all?"

"You mean her dominance might become a challenge?" He considered her.

"Yeah, like I'm only recently seeing this side of her. She's always been so at the top of her game. And she was always a piece on the board that I looked up to. Because she's been through so much and she's done things I haven't done. Unspeakable things, as she calls it. And I'm just wondering about the secrets."

"The second you begin to start wondering about the cobwebs in her closet, that's when you'll move further away from her. She's a complicated woman with a damaged past. But so are you," David pointed out. "And do you like it when someone comes to you and asks you about your past? About why you did the things you did?"

She thought about the drugs Neal often brought into their apartment, the temptations. She thought about picking pockets in Boston and stealing from stores. About being in prison. Fighting. Hating when someone asked her questions about those days because she felt as if they were going to judge her before understanding.

"Exactly," David observed her in deep thought. "She has nothing above you other than her age. And even that means nothing. I'll tell you one thing though, she's not going to stop coming after you. Because when Regina wants something, and especially when she's in love, she never gives up. That's how she is. She's going to try so hard until she can't try anything else and then she'll probably explode on us all."

Emma sat there, swimming in all those thoughts for a long time. As the rain fell, she saw what she desired through the haze like an illusion. Killian was handsome. He was chasing after her. But when she aligned her priorities, his path didn't combine with hers. It was the harsh truth but it was so obvious. That he wanted her to pave the way before he made a decision. And at times it was so frustrating to be with someone who couldn't take the upper hand and make the hard choices.

The phone vibrating immediately tore her away from those thoughts, and she pulled the device out. David chuckled when he saw the caller ID.

"I told you she wouldn't give up," he said matter-of-factly.

She stared at the display for a few seconds and then inhaled deeply. "I should answer."

"You really should," David urged her. "Go on," and he rose up, stretching. "I'll take myself back inside and join in on the game of cards."

When he had slipped inside and closed the door, she finally sat there with her form rigid. Then finally deciding that it was time to face the music, Emma answered the call.

"I'm sorry," was the first thing Regina whispered from the other end. The blonde could hear her breathing. The downpour was dull in the background but stronger on Emma's side.

"For what?" she clutched the phone tightly between her fingers, staring into the night.

"For trying to force you to love me back when you obviously don't," Regina said, trying as hard as she could to sound firm. "For wasting your time last night. For telling you the things I did."

 **MORE? Review!**


	5. Completeness

"You said what you had to say. I don't think that you should apologize for that."

Why was all this angst necessary?

Why was this happening?

"It's never going to sink into that thick skull of yours that I am not the kind of woman who says certain things lightly. I'd never run to someone and admit freely how I feel for them without finding myself buried deep," the brunette paused, and the rain filled the silence. "But I'm beginning to realize that this is a waste of your time."

"Stop it," Emma felt the tears coming forth, hot tears. Her chest constricted and she stopped breathing. "Don't say that. You know that it wasn't a waste of my time, Regina."

"It was," the brunette said on the other end. "So I've decided that we need to come to a decision right now." Her voice was hoarser than usual, affected by so much emotions. "Either you give me reason to stay or I leave this godforsaken town to reside somewhere else, far away from you building a future with…him."

She felt so cold. So cold when the thought of not having the brunette around consumed her.

Why did her life have to be that way? Constantly meeting hurdles that seemed to knock her down? And just when she would absorb the happiness from having it all, a brick wall would present itself.

"What do you want me to do?" Emma asked in a small voice. "Do you want me to just leave him and treat him as if he's not worth it? Is that what you want?"

"I don't care about anyone else but you and Henry," Regina said in frustration.

She couldn't believe it. "But you're asking me to break a man's heart just so that I can be with you. I'm not that kind of person."

"In life, we make choices," Regina sounded as if she was crying, "regardless of how you see it, we always hurt someone when we make those choices. And if you're going to be the Saviour as you claim to be, then you'll have to learn to live with that. Don't tell me about hurting people's feelings when your job in New York was to hunt down people and make them pay for what they did."

"That's because they were bad people!" Emma cried. "They were scums. Killian isn't a bad person."

"And I'm worse than him?" Regina practically cried, "after you've known me before him! After we've been through so much together."

"Don't you dare throw this back at me," the blonde threatened in a hoarse voice, "don't you dare come to me with that crap."

"This is not…crap," the older woman said in a weaker tone, "it's the truth."

"And you honestly believe that I don't care about you?" Emma couldn't understand that.

"I'm not the one tearing us apart."

"Why are you doing this?" Emma practically cried through the phone. "Are you listening to yourself? Stop for one goddamn moment and listen to what the hell you're telling me, Regina. You're asking me to hurt someone when you know that I can't –"

"Then fuck my feelings," the brunette said. There was a pregnant pause. "Is that it? After you've picked me up and led me down the right path and you were there when I needed someone. All the time you were there. You came into _my_ life. I didn't crash into yours. And that makes me a bad person so you can choose to break my heart instead of his."

"I never said –"

"Go ahead and do what you want, Emma," the brunette said through tears. "Live your life with him because deep down inside you'd rather be the one responsible for breaking my heart. When you know that you feel the same way about me. I'm not stupid. My feelings ride on mutual grounds."

That was enough to immediately shut her up. To present the kind of pause that was filled with thick tension. Tension that seeped into her bones and began to suffocate her heart. She felt as if the world was dying. Her world.

"Regina –" Emma croaked.

"You're a coward," the older woman sobbed.

"I don't need this from you right now," the blonde stated, her chest constricting. The cold wind came in and numbed her face. "I really don't need you to lower your worth, and plant me in all the mess as if I'm the one to blame."

"I regret ever meeting you," Regina whispered. "I wish that we never met."

Emma couldn't reply, because her heart had stopped beating. Her chest had grown colder.

"You're nothing but a coward, and I regret ever falling for you –"

"Don't say that to me," the blonde broke down, her lips quivering as she began to cry. "Don't you dare say that to me, Regina. Because I'm not the kind of person to hurt you. I would never hurt you. This is just a really bad place for me and you're not seeing this from my side, you're just –"

The line disconnected and she crumbled. Her chest heaved uncontrollably as she fought the sobs. As she curled up into a ball and cried, bleeding inside. Because this was never her intention. To shatter what they had. Never. And now she felt the blow of her selfishness in trying to muffle those feelings deep down inside.

Regina had been right. She had been so damn right. She knew her better than anyone else. Mutual feelings.

For some odd reason, her mind dwelled upon that time when she had asked the brunette to be her friend. When she walked away knowing that them being friends didn't feel right at all. And she needed something more. More than just friends. Or best friends. She needed so much more.

X

Explaining the entire situation to Henry was something she had been hesitant to even consider all along. Simply because the kid seemed so happy living in his own bubble, with enough drama popping up here and there. Then to add this onto his plate; what kind of mother would even slip that into her child's lap?

Unless he was seriously observant and cornered her about it.

This was exactly the situation that unfolded two days after in the park. She was sitting upon a bench, overwhelmed by her own thoughts. Deep thinking most people referred to it as. But in her circumstance, the blonde was buried deep inside a dark and painful world where nothing but failure and hurt seemed to grab at her.

She was sinking.

There were no missed calls from Regina. No text messages. Her WhatsApp was disconnected and she hadn't been seen around the town or heard from since that night.

"Thought I'd find you here," Henry's boots snapped some twigs as he approached the bench, the zips on his backpack clicking.

She barely glanced around to consider him, still wrapped in the most evident proclamation ever. That she had committed the most hurtful crime ever. And Regina would never speak to her again.

It was always the same. Just as soon as they fell out, she would somehow slip into a tankful of feels that circled around a hole created by guilt. That she was to be blamed and she had to fix things.

"So mom's obviously buried in her work since she's back as Mayor," he sat next to her, slipping off his bag. "And I was there yesterday and today, to have lunch with her."

"That's nice," Emma said, marveling over the simple fact that she hadn't considered the Mayor's office as Regina's usual bat cave.

"Something's wrong with her," Henry kept throwing glances at his mother. "Do you have any idea what it might be?"

"Dunno," Emma stared onto the pond's shimmering surface without blinking.

For a full minute, he didn't provide a reply.

"I'm not a kid anymore, you know mom," he finally said, nudging her leg with his. "You can tell me stuff."

"There's nothing to tell," she lied in a softer tone, barely audible over the rush of the breeze through the trees.

Five minutes. Still she divulged nothing. Only to have him stare into the distance after a long sigh, wondering why he had to serve as the middle man. It was like trying to be a peace maker between two powerful countries on the battle field. Meaning that he had to feel the bluntness of things said. He had to listen to both sides.

"What if I told you that I just spent almost three hours with mom in her office," he said in a tone that expressed sadness. "And within that time, she cried for like an hour. You're still going to turn a blind eye?"

"Kid," her eyes slowly fluttered close. Emma slumped forward, arms resting on her thighs that were spread apart, "you don't want to get in the middle of this. Believe me."

"But I'm always in the middle whether I choose to be or not," Henry reminded her. "The two of you fail to realize that whatever happens between you, I feel everything. I just listened to her open up herself to me in a way that she hasn't done for a long time."

Emma ran her fingers through disheveled blonde hair, head lowered.

"I know that you feel the same way about her, mom. You can't lie to me."

There it was. The simple fact that he could read her without even trying too hard. Because he was her son. They were connected. There were things he understood before she explained. Things he caught onto.

"And I know that you're scared and you don't know what to expect. But I've known her longer than you. And even when I stopped believing in her, you did. When you have that kind of belief in someone, you trust them. And that's not an easy thing to do."

"She's a…" she wanted to say it, rather wished that she could will herself to, but the word never escaped. "This is different."

"So what if she's not a guy?"

Her emerald eyes turned to him, widening from believing that he could honestly read minds.

"Aren't relationships supposed to be more that...physical attraction?" he seemed so wise, so thoughtful that she gazed at him and remembered Neal for some odd reason. His insight into things. The way he fleshed out situations and seemed to be equipped with the kind of knowledge that came from so much years of reading.

"It's not that I'm not attracted to her in that way…"

"Then what's the problem?" he frowned. "Hook?"

"I can't disappoint him," she tried to explain. "Why can't anyone see that?"

"Because maybe the people you're around really care about what you want and your happiness above anyone else's," Henry tried with a shrug. "Hook will be hurt, yeah. But he'll move on" He never did take a liking to Killian.

She mused about that and studied the side of his face. Wondering why after all those years, when Neal had first met Regina, he somehow became suspicious of her attachment to the older woman.

"Ask yourself if you'd rather be with him whilst you're in love with Regina, and you'd rather have her leave Storybrooke. Because she can't stand to see you with him." He studied her face intently.

The wind lifted blonde hair. Emma tucked a chunk behind an ear.

"Frankly I don't want to lose her," he said softly. "I'd rather let go of Hook, instead of my other mom."

It was always about what made him happy. She stayed to be with him. Stayed to make sure that he was happy. This was all about Henry. But oftentimes, she catered for her happiness as well. Now here was a situation whereby losing someone he loved was threatening. But to give up on someone she had grown to trust as well was also painful.

"What don't you like about her?" he wanted to know with a small smile. "Is it her cranky mood and her sassiness?"

She actually chuckled after that, only seeming to remember Regina's recent display of complete mushiness. Sometimes she hated that. Not knowing what to expect. Knowing only what could be seen from someone's face expression.

Henry wanted what was best for both his mothers. But inevitably he would be led down a path that consisted of possibly losing one of them. That's the way he saw it presently. Especially after seeing Emma's display of emotions.

"I just don't like how she's unreadable at times," the blonde confessed, tucking a chunk of blonde hair behind an ear. The wind caressed her face. She sighed. "Like she seems to be putting up this wall that no one can see past and it's so annoying.

"I know what you mean," Henry agreed with a nod. "I guess it kind of comes with her experiences. Robin used to complain about the same thing. He used to ask me what she was thinking. I guess you just have to ask her how she feels instead of trying to read her face. I know that she's not usually good with words. But she's trying these days. Especially today. She said a lot to me. And by a lot I mean a lot."

She studied his face and wondered if he would divulge any information that had been expressed by Regina her. Any at all. Afraid to ask, the blonde sat there and awaited any bit of news to signal the possibility of how to proceed.

"I'll tell you what though," Henry finally said after a few seconds had slipped by. "She wants to have a face to face meeting with you."

"When?" Emma held her breath.

The thought of sitting with Regina alone was something that made her heart skip a few beats.

Henry actually smiled. "See? I knew you're in love with her. Because instead of asking me 'why?' you chose to ask me 'when?' and that shows that you want to meet her."

"I…" Emma swallowed hard, "I guess so." Being in love with Regina. Why was it so easy for him to believe but it was so difficult for her to process?

"As long as you're game, I can give her the heads up and she'll do it. It's all up to you," Henry said with a shrug. "What about this afternoon? Got any plans?"

She had promised to have dinner with Killian, nothing serious but a one on one as well for her to discuss a few things about their relationship. Deep down inside though, Emma began to feel as if they weren't going to last long. As if they were holding back too much from each other and very soon contained feelings would force them to explode. Because he was already complaining about her absences and the fact that she refused to divulge everything with him.

"Tell her that I'll do it," she decided on impulse on what her heart felt in that moment. Losing Regina was not an option. It never was.

"Yeah?" Henry turned to consider his mother's face. He seemed genuinely surprised.

Emma nodded. She forced out a smile. "Yeah, why not. She's a Queen. And you can't keep a Queen waiting at all."

Mimicking her smile, he pulled out his phone and began to text away.

X

For some odd reason, the brunette refused to meet inside the Diner. Her mind was definitely set on avoiding scrutiny by any and every one and any interruptions for that matter. So away from prying eyes, Emma trudged down a path along the beach, her boots sinking into the sand as the wind whipped blonde hair about.

It was almost 6pm.

The moon was full that evening, bright and the sky presented an abundance of clouds to signal a possible downpour later on. Perhaps they should have avoided such a windy night by seating themselves indoors. But to Emma, it was all about what Regina wanted. And as the scene presented itself, the older woman preferred nothing else than having them both in the open air under the stars.

Alone.

She wasn't in the least bit afraid. But she was nervous. After all, their last conversation didn't end well.

So that when emerald eyes registered the brunette perched on the edge of the wooden pier ahead, nothing could slow down her heart. Nothing at all. Although the older woman wasn't facing her, she could highlight the stiffness in Regina's attitude. Her manner of sitting wasn't entirely relaxed to suggest a calm mood.

Emma approached slowly, wringing her hands and wondering what Killian was doing at that moment. Possibly blowing off steam within the depths of his ship after she had cancelled on a bad note.

Sometimes there were things in life that seemed to roll over, to eventually disintegrate. In other words, whatever was meant to be would linger. The things that weren't deserving would dissolve.

She didn't even care that much about leaving him to chase the wind upon his ship. Knowing well enough that their paths didn't seem to cross.

Not the way her life seemed to cross with Regina's life.

It was remarkable how connected they were because she was just about four feet away when the brunette suddenly reared her head to consider the blonde. Dark hair fanned into those brown eyes. Regina reached up to clip the flyaway tendrils and she held them back momentarily before the gaze consumed her mind.

It was a gaze enacted that served to possibly drown both of them.

Emma took a deep breath before proceeding, wondering how the world could unwind itself in this manner.

She wasn't sure if to sit or stand. Momentarily standing inches away from the other woman's position, emerald eyes were focused forward. Her breathing was measured. Her heart couldn't be quiet. Not when they were connecting in this way. Not when she could literally feel their auras meshing, their worlds colliding.

Regina gazed at the blonde's form as the younger woman lowered herself.

They sat there for a long time without speaking to each other. But simply savoring the buzz, the tension between them that seemed to never become unbearable but to swallow them into a bubble.

"I thought you'd never show up," The brunette's eyes fluttered close.

For a moment, the younger woman wasn't quite certain of the answer to the question. She frowned. "I thought you wouldn't either."

Regina gripped the edge of the pier tighter. "So we're both here because you've come to your senses."

The blonde merely gazed at the other woman's cheek and she couldn't formulate the words to respond. Instead, those emerald eyes rested on the rough waters before them.

A rough patch of water.

So rough. No calm. Just like the turmoil within their hearts.

"Aren't you going to say anything to me?" Regina croaked.

Emma held her breath. The wind played with blonde strands. "I thought you said that you wished you never met me…"

Tasting those words on her tongue was so hurtful that she felt her throat tighten. Closing up. She felt wounded.

The brunette sighed, lowering her head. "I did say that…"

The younger woman considered dark hair; beautiful silky tendrils. "Then what if your wish came through. Could you live without me in your life?"

Her voice seemed smaller as the wind played with those words. The wind swirled between them and howled and made the waves dance. And Regina seemed to be sinking into the spot where she was.

"Could you really think about not having me around?" Emma tried again. There was a knot in her throat.

Regina's face was partially concealed by her dark hair still. "Stop playing mind games with me," she whispered.

"But that's what you've been doing to me since we got back from New York," the blonde reminded her, tears being held at bay. "You just started to confuse me." Emma swallowed hard. "And it's not like you gave me time to prepare. You've been fucking with me, Regina."

"So what was I supposed to do?" came the older woman's hoarse reply. Their eyes met and the connection between them was intense. The waves crashed and rolled.

"I needed you to help me understand how you feel. Not to rush things on me just like that."

"Blame yourself," Regina's tone was slightly bitter. Her brown eyes glistened with tears.

Emma frowned. "Because I couldn't soak up your feelings like a sponge?"

"No. The minute you returned from New York, you've been jumping the gun with Hook." The brunette's eyes swirled with fire. "You're suddenly discussing moving in together and I just couldn't smother my feelings anymore because I really didn't grasp it all. I didn't understand the magnitude of my feelings." She inhaled deeply.

"I can't keep circling around this, Regina," Emma muttered. "I need you to do something, to say something to me. Make me choose you. I need a reason to leave Killian for you." She was quite aware of brown orbs widening upon her. "You can't expect me to just pack up and leave and all I have is words."

"What do you want me to do?" the brunette whispered, struggling to breathe.

"Force me to stay here so that I don't want to go anywhere else."

"I don't need to do that," Regina said to her. "You're already here because you want to be here. I never had to force you to do anything, Emma. Because you've always chosen me over anyone else. Even your parents when they would doubt my worth. You would step in and take my side. I don't need to give you a reason to stay with me."

She felt the tears coming forth and allowed them. As hot as they were in comparison to the wind's bitterness, Emma allowed it. Rolling down her cheeks as she folded inwards and she felt raw inside. As she crumbled. As she sank lower and lower.

"Okay," she said, her voice barely audible. "So give me more than words."

"I once before asked if I could kiss you," Regina reminded the blonde. "And you denied me that. So what do you want from me?"

"I don't…" she shrugged, reaching up to bat away the tears. Her eyes remained downcast. "I don't know exactly. I just want something and I don't know what it is."

For a while, the older woman sat there studying the blonde in silence. Then she inched nearer. And nearer until their thighs were touching. The effect was a grand one, feeling immediately how Emma's body responded to her being so close in proximity.

"Hold…me," Regina said in a hoarse manner.

Emma considered her face for a few seconds. And then she willed her right arm around the other woman's waist. Slowly. But then, when the warmth of the brunette's body radiated onto her skin, she gave in almost immediately.

It was like completing a circle. Knowing that something had been missing all along and the feeling of having at least a touch of that still lingered in her mind. Because she had known this before. The familiarity of having someone so close to her that sparked up something warm and fuzzy. But those times before, Neal had held her in his arms. Now it was the other way around.

"How does it feel?" Regina rested her forehead upon the younger woman's neck. She inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering close. "To have me so near to you?"

Emma smiled. "Warm."

"And…" the brunette waited, her fingers aching to become entwined with Emma's.

Emerald eyes fluttered close as she gradually felt their bodies sharing the same warmth. "Like I'm finally home."

Regina held her breath as the wind encircled them, their magic creating a shield that warded away anything but warmth. At times she used to believe that they were strong enough to calm any storm. Now it was definite; that they were even capable of containing their energy inside a bubble that only they could savor.

"That's good," she said in a hoarse voice, her lips moving upon the other woman's fair neck, just where a pulse could be felt.

Emma's heart was racing. Her toes curled. "Can I…kiss you now? Just asking that question made her weak. Mind, body and soul.

Regina pulled her face away from warm skin that smelled like everything her heaven would consist of. Vanilla and cocoa, intermingled together. Gently, she brushed their noses together, a smile playing upon her lips.

"Yes you may," she whispered, as the blonde's eyes fluttered close. Easing one arm upwards, she captured blonde tendrils between her fingers. The silky feel. So soft and welcoming. And as their lips remained inches apart, Regina finally entwined their fingers upon Emma's lap.

"I can't breathe," the younger woman said softly, already trembling from within.

"I can't either…" Regina croaked, "...every second that you're not mine."

And just like that, the blonde pushed in and allowed their lips to meet. Softly at first. Just an acknowledgement of the distance never existing anymore. Feeling how little bolts of electricity sprang from the meeting of their souls and dancing through her mind; her body. And then she was being kissed back as her mouth was eased open further by an even softer one.

The sensation was nothing like she could have even imagined. Softer. Sweeter. Better than ever. Leaving her even more breathless than before but she never felt like coming back up for air. Not when the brunette curled into her embrace. Providing so much in that one slow kiss that lasted forever.

In her mind, she tasted the bitter sweet commencement of a fairytale. Sweet poison spreading through her and consuming her mind. Over and over again. Regina kissed her back so deeply. Capturing the younger woman's bottom lip between hers and sucking gently before releasing and going in again.

"I want you," the blonde breathed into dark hair, her fingers caressing the other woman's back and travelling lower. She rested their foreheads together.

Regina's lips were parted. She breathed through them, brown eyes fluttering close. Her chest heaved. "I want to show you what you've…" she couldn't catch her breath as yet, "…what you've been missing all this time."

"Take me wherever you want us to go," Emma whispered as their cheeks rubbed together. She entwined their fingers and gazed at them.

Finding herself seconds after splayed out upon a Queen sized bed that felt deeply inviting and softer than ever wasn't surprising to say the least.

Emma didn't even have enough time to consider the details but was quite aware of where she was; in Regina's room where the dark red curtains flapped from the night wind. Where the luxurious feel only seemed fitting for royalty and the dimly lit interior provided nothing but mystery.

When emerald eyes latched onto brown ones, she simply forgot everything else. Nothing else mattered. Only the brunette as she advanced slowly towards the bed, clad in her black tailored dress, dark hair short and disheveled.

"So this is what it feels like to be seduced by the Queen," Emma tried, realizing that her voice was huskier than before.

Regina climbed gracefully onto the bed, closing the distance between them as she walked on her knees. The abundance of lust in her eyes sparked up a fire. Little flames.

By reflex, as the older woman drew nearer, Emma lowered herself onto the plush mattress, staring. Holding her breath. Her hands reaching up to caress the brunette's blushed face. Soft skin. Warmth. Nothing but perfection.

The kiss was enacted again and this time Regina controlled the pace as she eased into a sensual one that invited more passion. Emma's toes curled. She allowed a moan to escape when her throat was kissed and those soft lips moved further down south, eager fingers unbuttoning her shirt and splaying the fabric apart.

She mewled when the brunette lingered between her breasts, teeth grazing a little pathway over erect nipples. Arching her back, she invited so much more. Closing the distance between parted lips and her heaving chest, only providing the older woman with an opportunity to suck slowly. To pull and kiss fluidly. Never pausing.

Regina moved further down, very soon she was tugging at the other woman's pants zip, lower and lower. Only seconds it seemed like before the article of clothing was tossed onto the floor and she pressed her searching mouth upon pink panties. Her teeth drove a pathway downwards, forcing the blonde to arch her back further, writhing upon the bed.

Her mind was blown away when she was dominated in that way. Deeply and intensely pleasing. The older woman sought out the one place that ached the most and she sucked and used her mouth slowly. Driving Emma to the edge as her fingertips dug into the red satin sheets. Twisting. Moaning and then crying out until her throat became parched. Emma lost herself several times before she realized that her thighs were gripped firmly and the love making continued deeper and faster.

Every time she came undone, she cried out Regina's name. Driving her fingers through dark tendrils as blonde hair grew damper from sweat dripping down her back. How was it so different to be lost, to be drowning with another woman? She had never known this kind of love. Never before until now. And it was more than a hundred times pleasurable. Satisfying. Regina stole her away to a place where she drifted in thick passion. Where her heart lifted from her chest and rested in a space that felt so beautiful.

Their bodies writhed together. Moving together. Completing one feeling that grew and grew.

She was so beautiful.

Every curve of her body that the younger woman's fingers travelled across. Soft hips that fitted with hers as they pleasured each other with thrusting fingers. Screaming as she dug her fingernails into the brunette's back and she came again and again. Feeling how warm and pleasing the older woman was when she came undone, harder and faster. Both of them couldn't breathe. Neither of them cared. Until they both lay in each other's arms, shaking with the sheets soaked.

She held her.

Emma had her arm around Regina as the brunette's face rested between her breasts. As she drowned and couldn't come up back for air. Both of them were still floating in a space in time that seemed so surreal. So…magical. The intensity of their togetherness merely provided clarity that what existed between them was not normal. It wasn't just pleasure. It was so much more. Shaking her to the core.

"Almost," Emma whispered as world of sleep rested heavy on her eyelids.

Momentarily, Regina's breathing ceased. The rise and fall of her chest stopped. She nestled her face into the other woman's breasts further.

"No," the blonde said softly, her fingers curling through dark tendrils. Emerald eyes focused on the red blinds, fluttering lightly. The moon was round. "This is enough."

And she slipped into a ride of dreams that settled upon them making love to each other deeper and deeper and slower.

 **ONE MORE CHAPTER? REVIEW!**

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	6. Coming Out

Together.

They were holding hands, fingers entwined as specks of sunlight rested on the wooden table. Just two drinks between them; a cup of coffee and a mug of cocoa. Because things were back to normal, or so it seemed. But then normal was overrated.

Normal used to be finding the perfect person.

Now her normal was finding someone who was as broken as she, so that they could put each other back together. Piece by piece. Until their hearts mended and their souls curled up together.

"I can't believe we're here," Emma said softly, a smile tugging at her lips. Those emerald eyes rested on the older woman.

Regina smiled back, her gaze lowering bashfully. "Me neither."

"But it was possible," the younger woman squeezed the brunette's fingers. "To you."

She was perched on the edge of the chair, making every effort to keep their bodies as near as possible with a table between them.

"Well one of us had to have enough hope. For us both for what seemed like years to me." Regina inhaled deeply, her chest heaving. She reached for her cup of coffee with her free hand.

"But fairytales only happen when both persons have just enough hope." Emma could never grow tired of studying the flutter of the older woman's eyelashes, nor the way she smiled. Nor the way her skin was smooth, and flawless.

"I thought that I'd die without you loving me back," Regina said hoarsely, wondering how the hole in her heart could suddenly disappear; that awful empty feeling.

Emma's heart stopped for a while. Just the thought of it made her crack a little more. "Don't talk like that."

"I'm just stating the truth," the brunette shrugged. "That I thought I'd fall."

"And I'd always catch you," Emma said without skipping a beat. "What?" She levelled her eyes with brown ones when the latter widened. "I'm just stating the facts."

Both of them allowed enough time to drown in a gaze that was enacted and held. No one could come between them.

"Ready?" Emma said some time after when the Sunday afternoon sky had become splashed with orange and specks of blue.

By then, their cups had been drained, their hearts had been softened to slow beating. Breathing measured. And everything said between them had been words only expressed through love. Through honesty.

"Yes," Regina slowly glided her splayed fingers across the table. When their fingers entwined perfectly, it was only then when she exhaled. Knowing that at some point, everything buried deep inside was immediately released with the other woman's contact.

Both of them rose up, one gracefully and the other swinging a brown boot over the handle of the chair. Once they had detached themselves from that space, their footsteps led tentatively towards the door of the diner. And although they had been brave enough before, both of them were trembling lightly from nerves.

Just like that, Emma led the way, with Regina trailing behind, her brown eyes unblinking.

The door was pushed open, the tinkle of the bell signaled their arrival and at first, the occupants of the establishment did not all lift their eyes. Just Ruby and Granny did. The former gawked at the pair entering and the red and white checkered cloth between her fingers drifted to the floor.

Snow's face beamed from the corner as she cradled baby Neal and David swiveled his head around to consider the attention grabber. His immediate reaction was a slow smile whilst Whale's jaw dropped to the floor and Archie stared with wide eyes, his cup of tea frozen in midair.

"David, look," Snow was breathless, reaching for her husband's hand and squeezing. "My goodness, look at that."

"Pretty much called it," his charming smile reached her eyes.

Both of them grinned as the couple by the door lingered there.

"Moms," Henry was energetically heading their way, his hand already outstretched welcomingly. "Glad you're here."

Regina gripped Emma's arm tighter than ever as they stood there for everyone to witness their newfound bond. By just glancing at their fingers entwined, everyone developed an amount of certainty on the actuality of that bond.

The nearness. The reflections on days before when they were at each other's throats. Knowing that at some point, it was possible to believe in the settling of feuds. The putting aside of differences. And just maybe…maybe finally realizing that common grounds could be met around some turn. Maybe pieces could fit together when allowed.

"I've got to get used to this," Emma said as she sank into the seat opposite Henry and the brunette. Those eyes of hers avoided making contact with anyone else except the occupants at the table.

Regina said confidently, seeming to relax and gather up her composure faster than the younger woman. "You will.

"Gosh, it's nothing really," Henry assured his mom, face turned in her direction. He smiled. "Besides, you two make a really cute couple. Just saying."

The party of three gradually turned into a gathering of five as Snow and David joined them. Then Archie ended up pulling up a chair as he was invited by Snow. Ruby, of course edged nearer but was unsure after her hiccup with Emma. Still there remained slight tension between the two of them, although Regina smiled in her direction.

"I can't begin to express how happy I am about this," Snow trembled from excitement. Her arm was linked with David's. "Come to think of it, I haven't been this happy about a match involving the two of you before. Not with Neal. Nor Killian. Nor Robin," she turned to Regina and snatched up the older woman's free hand. "My heart is contented."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Regina shook her head slightly whilst smiling.

"I hope you know that you're not going to be spared the father talk from me," David informed the older brunette with a twinkle in his eye. "Although we've known you for years, it's upon me to ask some questions."

"I'm so nervous," Regina teased him, "I cannot wait to answer them all."

The night progressed with snacks all around and champagne. As much as she wished to sip on some bourbon, the older woman settled for the bubbly refreshment.

Their eyes met often; brown with emerald ones. They almost found themselves becoming lost until the conversation snatched their minds back. And then it dawned upon the blonde that maybe after all this time, Henry had made her remain in that town but it was Regina who eventually gave her reasons to stay.

Always wanting to sway her walk down the right path. Staying to help her. Fighting to make sure that they never remained angry at each other. She had chased after the older woman like a lost puppy, only to find that no matter how mad they could be at each other, their hearts always returned home. And home was nothing else but the two of them falling in love.

"I actually had a good laugh that night," Snow was saying to Archie, "when the tide came in and soaked David instead of me. I was on the other side. The side further away from the water," she explained.

Regina was slipping deeper into a world where nothing else mattered when she continued to feel the tips of Emma's toes caressing between her calves. Their eyes remained connected. One smiled whilst the other smirked.

"And she wouldn't wake me up," David explained with enough surprise about his wife's behavior. "Instead, she left me there until I could literally feel in my dreams that I was drowning."

"I wanted to see him jump up," Snow explained, showing some teeth as she smiled widely. "And I wanted to see him strip off his clothes and allow the moonlight to bathe him."

Henry groaned, burying his face into his hands. "Here we go," he mumbled.

"You're going to have your stories someday," his grandmother informed him. "When you reflect on the moments you and Violet share together and those moments bring nothing but a smile to your face."

"What a family though," Archie seemed comfortable in his chair. "The connections between all of you, it's just…just remarkable. I'd say that your family is as unique as a family could ever get."

"You got that right," Emma pitched in, smiling. Her eyes never left brown ones as she glided her toes further up and felt warmth, enough to unsettle the older woman's composure.

Regina squirmed a little in her seat.

"What I can't recall though," Snow wouldn't put the topic to rest and her brows furrowed, "is seeing you and Regina sleeping in your spots that night."

David frowned as well, recollecting. He turned in his seat to face the older woman. "Yeah, where were you two?"

"Off making merry, I suppose?" Granny was working the books but she was attentive from behind the register on the counter. Her eyes sparkled.

"We were…" Emma tried to fit the pieces together, her memory a little cloudy. She stole a glance at Regina, "…looking for branches to make a fire."

Ruby snorted. She leant a hip onto the counter and continued to wipe the glasses, resting them neatly onto a tray. "Right."

"But Regina can use her magic to get a fire going," Snow pointed out.

"Well I remember I got her mad over…something," Emma explained, her eyes resting on the older woman. She could recall exactly what occurred but decided to leave out the details.

Regina had been upset over something quite ridiculous to the blonde at the time. But thinking back on it now, this unsettling behavior from the brunette came right after Emma had kissed Hook. The younger woman always carried around the feeling that Regina had been hidden in the trees when that kiss happened and she had seen everything.

"She was so mad at me, she didn't want to help me summon some branches," the blonde continued. "And my magic was so rusty back then."

"I made her work for it," Regina smirked, lifting her chin a little.

And she had savored how Emma stooped to scoop up those branches, carrying them all the way back by herself. Scowling. And she had refused to ignite the branches as well.

"Oh I see!" Snow exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "I always do the same thing with David. Every time he gets me upset –"

"She suddenly becomes disabled in many areas," her husband continued. He sighed.

Snow had no response, pride kicking in as she assumed the role of the most confident wife in the room.

"It's good to see that love has no boundaries in both worlds," Archie introduced a new topic. He collected another cup of tea from Ruby and smiled at her. "Knowing that the heart is open where…no judgment is passed. None at all."

Snow nodded.

"We can't," David decided to add in a soft tone. His eyes rested on his daughter who sat there with her gaze only reflecting admiration. "Not after we've known what it's like to fight for love. To stay in love. To be in love. It never comes easy. And that's why Snow and I always have that soppy line, that we'll always find each other."

"It's because that is what love is," Snow added. She linked her arm with David and smiled. "Always finding each other when you fall out, when you get angry, when you feel as if you're drifting apart."

Emma's eyes rested on Regina and she couldn't stop herself from falling deeper and deeper in love with the other woman.

It seemed as if seconds could matter more than days. Seconds where she slipped and fell and she couldn't stop herself from wanting more. From knowing more. From digging deeper. From wanting to kiss her.

Even after the party had been separated and the street lamps illuminated their path, she still dwelled on the passion developing inside of her. She still fed on the other woman's warmth and couldn't stay away. Inches felt like miles between them. When their hands weren't linked, she felt incomplete. And only a week ago, none of that troubled her.

She had been lost.

Regina's arm snaked around Emma's waist as they walked down Main Street by themselves. She couldn't digest all of it as yet. The feelings. All of it was so much. Even with the blonde's fingers snaking through her hair as her face was pulled nearer. As those soft lips lingered upon her cheek and stayed there.

"I love you," Emma whispered as the wind danced around buildings and rustled leaves in the trees. "It's never been easy for me to say those three words. Not so fast. But I think it's been a long time coming in your direction."

Tears welled up in Regina's eyes. She couldn't contain her emotions. Her composure was weakening.

"And I've always said those words to you in some other form," the blonde continued whilst they walked, "like saving you, running against time to save our world. With you next to me. Coming back here. Just because of you. I was so jealous of Robin," Emma emphasized on those words as if her heart was strained. "I remember the first time I heard that you two were together, I literally felt so cold inside because I thought that he couldn't be trusted. I thought that he would hurt you somehow. Like he wouldn't ever be good enough for you."

"You two never spoke as much…to each other," Regina's voice was so hoarse, she clung onto the other woman's arm. They crossed in front of Gold's shop. The light was still on inside.

"It's because for some odd reason, I didn't want to get to know him."

"Why?" the brunette asked anyway.

Emma shrugged. "Because I felt as if he was taking all the glory from you and –"

"You were jealous," Regina said with a small smile.

"Yeah…"

The younger woman tugged them both across the street, their heels clicking upon the cold road.

"So you're now reassessing all that you've felt and all that you've done in regards to me," Regina felt as if her heart was about to leap out from her chest. She was so overwhelmed.

"I didn't know that I was…in love with you," Emma confessed softly.

The brunette nodded. She understood. "And you kept asking yourself why you felt that way about me. So…conflicted."

"Why this and why that," the blonde agreed. "Why did I feel as if I had to try so hard to get you to like me? Why did it matter so much? Why did I even care about what you thought about me? Why did I keep running after you? It was always me trying to get us in tune together."

The wind rushed around them and swirled up leaves that had been scattered. A grey cat streaked across the road and delved into an alleyway.

"Do you think that we're soul mates?" Emma suddenly asked.

Regina couldn't breathe. She felt her chest tightening. Her heart was racing. Her thoughts lingering on something that had been said so many years ago. So many times that same thing had been debated on.

The younger woman felt how the woman within her grasp grew stiffer and she slowed their footsteps. Her face turned to consider paler cheeks. The brunette's hand had grown colder.

"What's wrong?" she could detect the worry in her tone and frowned at Regina's downcast brown eyes. "What did I say?"

"Nothing," the older woman lied, her mind resting on a memory that suddenly swirled up and wouldn't go away.

 _The Saviour._

 _The Evil Queen's undoing…_

 _Their souls will never settle until they're at peace with each other._

 _She'll never be happy until she fills the void in her heart._

 _The Saviour will bring back the happy endings._

"Well," Emma decided to let go of the topic, her eyes focused forward again, "I guess this is where we live our lives together instead of going down different paths, huh."

"Yes," Regina swallowed hard. She was so sure of it. That Robin wasn't her soul mate, had never been. Because what she had felt for him had been nothing as strong compared to what she felt for Emma. Not even close.

"Will you promise to give me a kiss every morning before I leave for work?" the blonde tilted her head and smiled in her own humor.

"Because your parents do that every single day?" Regina turned her eyes to consider the other woman's blushing cheek.

"Yeah."

"But we're not even living together as yet."

Their hands found each other and their fingers entwined.

"Then when we are living together," Emma said a little crestfallen, already dreading the thought of sleeping alone.

"But apart from what they do," the brunette continued, "what would you like us to do that would create our own moments?"

For a while she didn't reply, merely pondering on their life, and where it was going to lead. Not two lives now but one life.

"I want us to meet in the Diner every morning before I head to work," Emma began, her chest fluttering as they walked. "And then you'll have your cup of coffee and I'll have my usual cocoa."

"Sounds like a plan," Regina said, her voice a little unsteady.

"And then just before we part for the day, we'll kiss for at least three seconds."

"Just three seconds?" The brunette smirked as their eyes met. "What about until we're breathless and then we pull apart to breathe again?"

She was caving in.

Emma leant in just like that. So suddenly that Regina couldn't brace herself. She wasn't fully prepared so that when their lips met, her body trembled. Her heart quaked. Those brown eyes fluttered close instantly and when the younger woman parted her lips, she allowed it. She allowed herself to be kissed slowly at first and then deeply.

Passion rippled through her, every part of her mind loosening up.

She was captivated by those warm hands caressing her cheeks, feeling the tears escaping. The past few days had been so riveting. So emotional for her, for both of them.

They parted from the kiss and lingered near still, breathless.

"Like that?" Emma whispered, her warm breath awakening the other woman's body even more.

Regina's weakened knees almost allowed her to fall into the other woman's arms.

She allowed their lips to touch just a little more. "Like that," she confirmed.

"Good, so you know now that I'm serious."

"I never doubted that," the brunette admitted. "But the real question is, what are you going to do about Hook?"

"Meh," Emma turned away, but reached out her right hand, urging the other woman to take it. They began to walk again, slowly.

"Meh?" Regina studied the other woman's cheek and awaited a little more clarity.

"Yeah, like, whatever. It's done." She was so sure of the results.

The older woman frowned. "Feel free to elaborate, my dear. I'm not leaving room to wonder."

"I mean," Emma bent her head a little and shrugged, "we had the talk. Things were said. There was a lot of yelling. That kind of thing. And then…"

The wind lifted blonde hair. Strands stuck to that grey sweater. Her fair skin was flushed, especially around her neck. And for some odd reason, her hands had become clammy. She was flustered. She was growing warmer. That much Regina recognized. The small changes. The little in betweens. The way those emerald eyes clouded.

"And then?"

Emma sighed. She walked a few more steps. "He stormed out after calling me a few things that kind of wounded me –"

"Like what?" Regina's blood was already boiling, to a point where her grip tightened on the other woman's hand.

"It doesn't matter," Emma said softly, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "It was just his opportunity to vent, I guess. Like he felt the need to let it all out. Especially after he realized that I had a thing for you for like ages. I think he knew…all along."

The brunette frowned. "How would he have known?"

"Simple things."

"Like?" Regina couldn't keep her eyes away from the other woman. She was curious. Eager to listen.

Emma inhaled deeply. "Well, for instance, I can't stop…talking about you. I never could. And it was annoying to him, especially when he'd want us to share a moment and I'd be like 'I have to go save Regina' or 'I have to find Regina' or 'hey Regina and I fell out and I need to patch things up'…so he kept feeling as if he was insignificant as compared to you."

"But technically, he is," the older woman stated.

Their eyes met. The blonde shook her head.

"Really? I knew you'd say that."

The brunette shrugged. Their footsteps led through the trees, a narrow path illuminated by lamps on posts that stood tall, even though the wind was picking up speed. Swaying the trees. And the waterside sparkled. The waves were rushing up. Just as her feelings were swelling.

"What did he call you?" she couldn't lay the matter to rest. Regina allowed herself to be tugged closer as the younger woman's arm wounded around her waist.

"Why do you want to know so much?"

"I just want to."

Emma sighed. Their boots crunched sand beneath them. "He called me a liar. A deceitful idiot. He said some day you're going to walk out on me because you're going to realize that I can't settle. Oh, and he also called me a lesbian."

Regina couldn't help but smile at that. "I'll admit that when I first met you, that's the first thing that came to mind."

The blonde gasped. "What the hell? Really?"

"Yes."

They both climbed the steps onto the wooden pier and felt the cold wind lick their faces. Brown eyes fluttered close along with emerald ones.

"I thought that you were exactly the kind of woman that I'd wish to sleep with. If I were gay," Regina confessed, her voice growing huskier.

"That's why you spiked my damn drink?" Emma was impressed. "So that you could take me to bed?"

"The possibility existed."

"You sly woman," the blonde was staring.

"Call me crazy but I've always found myself daydreaming about what it would be like to have you dominate me in between the sheets. I fantasized about letting go of all my control and handing the reins over to you."

"I'm…flattered," Emma was still taken aback by the bold statement.

"You ought to be," Regina took two steps forward and turned slowly to face the blonde. Her eyes glistened from tears. But not initiated from being sad. "Everyone will tell you that the Queen never allows anyone to take control of her. Unless of course, the negotiations involves you or Henry. Then I will do whatever it takes to save you both."

They gazed at each other for such a long time, nothing said between them. Nothing but thoughts. Racing thoughts and racing hearts.

She was drowning. She was falling and the wind was bouncing off of their aura and swirling around them.

"You know what I've realized after all this time?" Emma felt the inch of distance between them and hated it.

"What?" Regina's lips remained parted.

The blonde blinked slowly. "You're the most gorgeous woman I've ever met. And your body is gorgeous. And your boobs are so much more than mine. But I love it. I've always said to myself that if I ever dated a woman, I'd go for the boobs."

"You…idiot," Regina's chest heaved. She was smiling.

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